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mousey musings
Thursday, April 21, 2005
The Agonist has a thoughtful editorial on Ecuador's recent troubles. While I'm an economic neoliberal, I do recognize that its prescriptions need to be accompanied by supporting changes in political institutions in order to check corruption and ensure equal standing before the law. I think there is a pernicious tendency among many elites to think of democracy as "majority rule." However, democracy is a political system that involves institutions of governance, not merely elections. What is needed are elections, effective checks on executive power, a free press, political freedom, genuine party competition, and consistent enforcement of the law. Without these mundane details of democracy, it becomes some sort of magical abstract concept that says that anything goes if approved in a plebiscite. Singe agenda-setting and information provision are the keys to political power, strictly reactive referenda and retention elections are not democratic. Democracy means that ordinary people can organize and act to see their proposals debated, and not merely react to whatever questions the executive sees fit to address.
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