Government shutdowns, petty policy squabbles, voter disaffection –
democracy doesn't seem to work very well. But what's the alternative? And can
we rely on muddling through?
David
Runciman
It has been a bad few months for western democracy.
Over the summer we discovered that while democratic citizens and their elected
politicians were going about their everyday business, the secret services were
routinely eavesdropping on everything they did. It was bad enough to suppose
that the politicians were conniving in this. More disturbing was the thought
that even the politicians were being kept in the dark about what was going
on.
Then, in September, we had the spectacle of western
leaders trying to take a lead on Syria, only to be stymied by their
legislatures, which wouldn't let them do anything (the British parliament
didn't express a decisive view, not even against the use of force; it simply
rejected all the options put to it, like a sulky child). Principled
positions on both sides of the argument got lost in the fog of partisan
politicking. As Obama, Cameron and Hollande floundered around looking for
a workable policy on Assad's chemical arsenal, Putin stepped in at the
last moment to save the day. It was a humiliation he compounded with a crowing article in the New
York Times that
highlighted the advantages of mature statesmanship over democratic
skittishness.
(...)
Para continuar lendo, acesse: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/08/trouble-with-democracy-david-runciman?
Para continuar lendo, acesse: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/08/trouble-with-democracy-david-runciman?
David Runciman – Cientista
político britânico, professor de teoria política em Cambridge – 08.11.2013
