Voting, or not?

Winston Churchill famously quipped,

‘Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’

I’d have to agree that of all the options, each flawed with reductionistic views of humanity, a democratic state is where I’d rather live – I do live. We are yet to see people pouring into Marxist or totalitarian states by their hundreds of thousands – on the contrary. But democracy is also something we need to defend, and we best do this by being voting citizens. If we live with the benefits, we should participate in ensuring we and others continue to do so, and voting best affords this.

Voting in some countries is not optional – it is compulsory, enforced with fines (hardly bank breakers).  I spent the most significant part of my adult life in Australia where voting is compulsory. We took it for granted that we tended to get the government that the majority voted in – or said more crassly, we get the governments we deserve. Things are a little more nuanced than that with options and power sharing, but that is the general idea and ideal. I never imaging that voting was an optional extra to our exercise of democracy. But apparently so. Ten years in London and now three in Miami has taught me that voting isn’t exercised by the majority.

Americans aren’t any the less believers in democracy, but they consider it a constitutional right to not be told they must vote. This they deem to be an infringement of their rights, and if you live here, it is unproductive to argue otherwise. So, as in most other democratic nations, it becomes a case of who can raise the most to sell their policies, which means making a raft of promises to lure the voter. This is capitalism in its raw state.

Because of the tenuous state of democracy in the West (and it is in trouble) we should even more use our voting rights to do the best we can to get governments that best serve the people. Although we are lumbered with only two realistic choices, we shouldn’t shirk a duty to vote, a duty that is older than our country, a duty thrashed out in countries that believed in the democratising effect of representative rule by the people. We, the benefactors must take seriously the cost and value of a system of government that, at least ideally, is the result of centuries of trial and error, where power swung backwards and forwards: kings to people, people to kings.  

To not care is as dangerous as living in a cage with a lion; we will be devoured by the collapse of something worth preserving.

So, who do we vote for, especially in light of there being only two parties that are realistically going to slug it out for my vote. A suggestion is to avoid personality politics and look at the polices and history of the parties wanting your vote. It is unlikely you will be entirely satisfied because our value structure beggars what the world has on offer, so choosing between the lesser of two evils may be where you land. The option of not voting only ensures that we are captive to the 51%. That is the weakness of democracy. Almost half of a country can be in dissent, which doesn’t make for social harmony. The United Kingdom left the European Union with this sort of margin – which deeply divides the nation.

Being swayed by popular opinion, by razzle dazzle figure heads, by whoever lands the last punch to is to buy into charism-based politics. This is never a good ground for voting – history attests to the damage of charisma-based power. And as is often the case the stronger the personality the less likely they are to see themselves as the people’s representative. In some countries this has led to the virtual destruction of the democratic basis these people came into power by. Voter beware.

I urge people to vote, as democracy (the democratic process) is too precious to be left up to the choice of the people.