Democracy is a myth

The BBC is having a week of programmes on why democracy? – the basic line is that democracy is basically good or if not good then as Winston Churchill said "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

One Man One Vote - Defines Democracy?

 But define a Western democracy?

Is it just one man one vote, or is it free and independent political parties, or is it a free judiciary defending whatever system and rights that the constitution specifies, or is it a combination of all these, and other things?

I ask because many would site the UK as a good example of a Western democracy, but I would argue that what we have is an elected Dictatorship. That in our current system, only once every four or five years, do the political parties ‘listen’ to what the electorate says, only to then promptly do what’s best for themselves for the rest of the time.

We have no control over them, they vote for their own pay rises, supervise their own corruption cases (expenses are regularly abused and kept secret), they feather nest themselves with the only pension scheme that our 'unelected' Prime Minister Gordon Brown couldn’t damage while he was Chancellor.

Polls regularly show strong support for the death penalty, or whole of life prison sentences, for major crimes such as raping, and or killing children. What does parliament give us? Maybe a ten year sentence (and it can be as low as two), and out in two thirds of the time.

The Polls show that we want more say over agreements with Europe such as treaties and pacts. What do we get, nothing, the whole thing is repackaged and our democratic Prime Minister says that its up to him to decide if anything needs a referendum, despite an election manifesto promise (A perfect example of what I am pointing out, if ever one was wanted).

Polls show that the English want Scots, Welsh and Irish MP’s to not be allowed to vote on purely English matters. What do we get? The Government needs these non English votes, so they carry on voting for policies that don’t apply to them, or their constituents.

So where is the democracy in the UK system? It’s certainly not accountable in any real sense, and it’s not responsive to the public’s wishes, so why is it democratic?

A western democracy is a pale shell of the ideal and has never been more than an elaborate way of ensuring the same people as always run us. Virtually every member of the Cabinet and the opposition Shadow cabinet went to a grammar or public school, and most of them come from the same elite that have ruled us for centuries.

Now that the political parties are all dancing on the same ground, it’s purely a lip service democracy, and only in form rather than the result, is it that much different from that practised by oligarchs in the Middle East or elsewhere. It’s only the rule of law that prevents it being the same as those benighted states...