Pranav Jeevan P
Democracy is incomplete when it is not expanded to include economic, social and political realms in the world we live in. Economic democracy proposes to remove decision-making power from a few corporate shareholders and transfer that power to the workers, customers, suppliers,and the broader general public[1]. When a few capitalists control the decision making, they prioritize profits over worker welfare, environmental impact, dislocation of communities, and broader harm to the public. Capitalism results in economic crisis due to reduction in effective demand as people are unable to earn enough income to buy its output production.
Corporate monopoly of common resources typically creates artificial scarcity to keep the prices from falling. We have seen corporates destroy food and other essential items rather than redistribute it to people who need them so that the prices can remain high. Any attempts by public to democratize the economy for satisfying the common need is opposed by the few capitalists who control the governments and can undo any sort of political action against them. The tax policies which reduce corporate taxes and provides tax waivers to billionaire capitalist monopolies and simultaneously increase indirect taxes which are to be paid by common people shows the control these corporations have in deciding government policies. They also systematically attack social welfare schemes by reducing funds to public education and healthcare, thereby paving the way for a complete takeover of these services by private monopolies. Giving clearances without any environmental impact assessment to construct industries which destroy forests on tribal lands and using state institutions to evict and displace indigenous people are all part of this private oligarchy’s control over politicians, bureaucracy and judiciary.
Economic democracy means that all the resources used for production of goods and services is owned collectively by everyone and the dividends obtained is also distributed equally among everyone. Worker Cooperatives, community farming etc. are some the models of production which embodies the idea of collective ownership. Many of the jobs which people do today aren’t necessary because most of them can be easily automated using machines or computer software. Capitalist system uses this technology by reducing the workers causing rise in unemployment. This issue arises because the machinery and technologies of automation are monopolized and owned by the capitalist class even though the development of these technologies came as a result of collective human knowledge through generations. Thus, this control of the means of production and automation technologies by the capitalist oligarchy ensures that all wealth created using them goes only to the capitalists while 99% of the human population has to live on scraps these capitalists throws at them.
Due to this huge economic inequality, capitalists can easily influence government decisions because they have total control on politicians, media, internet, and public discourse. They use the state and state apparatuses like police to protect their property and hegemony over the resources and continue to exploit the masses. The common people are deliberately fed misinformation that stops them from realizing that they are not living in a democracy but a capitalist plutocracy. The funding of conservative political regimes by these capitalists ensures that people believe established social and economic hierarchies are justified and they end up blaming minorities, dalits, immigrants, and other marginalized sections for their lack of resources. When political parties openly try to destroy constitutional democracy and feed the idea of a non-existent glorious history to people, they too will aspire to be subjects under a benevolent monarchy instead of a democracy.
The issue the world faces is not the lack of resources due to overpopulation, but it is an issue of huge inequality in ownership and distribution of the resources. The world is producing more products and resources than is necessary to be consumed by all the people. There is more than enough food to feed the current population, but still half the world is malnourished. There are millions of houses not inhabited in a world which has millions of homeless. This happens when we don’t extend the idea of democracy into economy, farming, industries and business sectors. One of the reasons why people are not able to proceed with deliberations and participation in policy making is due to the fact that people don’t have time to spend in educating themselves about core issues that matter to them. Poverty, patriarchy, Brahminism and capitalism strives to keep people occupied with religious indoctrination, fake propaganda, hyper nationalistic myths, and menial labour. This keeps them away from understanding and learning how to assert their rights as individuals and participate in the democratic process.
In order for a democracy to work, the citizens need to be free to pursue their intellectual and creative passions and have time to discuss and study about the issues that affect their life on their own. This can only be achieved only by an economic democracy where the resources are collectively used for the betterment of each and every one rather than just for making the 1% richer. All production models should be owned collectively where decisions are democratically made, rather than by the tyrannical structures found in today’s business models. Creation of community owned farms, co-operatives societies, workers’ co-operatives and other collective democratic models of decision making and functioning need to be encouraged. Economic democracy strives to eliminate the income inequality and seeks to control means of production by everyone instead of by an oligarchy.
Industrial democracy refers to the organization model in which workplaces are run directly by the people who work in them rather than being controlled by a few capitalists who own the means of production[2]. Each enterprise should be controlled by those who work there and they should make all decisions about organization, discipline, production techniques, and the nature, price, and distribution of products. Problems of authority delegation should be solved by democratic representation. Management is to be chosen by the workers and not selected by a board of directors elected by stockholders. Ultimate authority should rest with the workers, following one-person, one-vote principle. This will ensure that workers’ interests and welfare are the priority. The Spanish Mondragon Corporation works in the principle of workers’ co-operative and has shown that when workers control the decision making, it results in greater productivity, worker satisfaction, higher wages, and equality for female workers[3][4].
In the current economy, essential work is mostly the jobs which are paid the least. Most of the exploitation that happens to workers inside a firm occurs due to the power hierarchy that oppresses them. Workers are exhausted and anxious about job security, making them vulnerable to coercion and exploitation at meagre wages. Decentralizing and democratizing this power is the only way to destroy this hierarchy. Building a cooperative economy is one step to reclaiming the wealth we all collectively create. THe Capitalist system concentrates economic and political power in the hands of a few. The solution to this unequal concentration of power is to distribute ownership of productive assets across the entire population. Within a property-owning democracy, widespread use of worker-owned cooperatives, employee ownership of firms, redistribution of lands to marginalized communities and universal basic income are some of the ways to ensure democratization of economic power and creating an equitable society.
Social democracy incorporates the idea of social justice which ensures that individuals receive their due dignity and inclusion in society. It emphasizes breaking barriers to social mobility, the creation of safety nets and economic justice. Social justice assigns rights and duties to the institutions of society which enables people to receive their basic benefits. The relevant institutions include social insurance, public health, public education, public services, labor laws, land rights, and forest rights to ensure fair distribution of wealth, and opportunity. It aims to destroy the oppressive social hierarchies like racism, brahminism, xenophobia, ableism and patriarchy. Social democracy means providing equal representation and dignity to the marginalized and oppressed sections in the society and creation of a society free of these hierarchies.
Participatory democracy expands on the idea of democracy where citizens have the power to make political decisions. Representative democracies limit the power of people such that even if it functions properly, the representatives are free to formulate policies and make decisions for people and cannot be removed from power until the next election which occurs every 4 or 5 years. Increasing corruption and nepotism by elected leaders, corporate funding of election campaigns, fake news, propaganda, lack of adequate representation of marginalized sections and rise in inequality are all causing people to lose trust in electoral models of democracy. Participatory democracy tends to reduce the dependency on politicians and advocates greater citizen participation and more direct representation than representative democracy. It ensures that citizens get the opportunity to participate in decision making on matters that affect their lives.
All modern constitutions declare that people are sovereign, the ultimate source of government authority. The people are implicitly entitled to directly participate in law making and its implementation. The exercise of democratic control over the legislative system and the policy-making process can occur only when the public is educated about their rights and have knowledge of the issues they are deliberating on. Greater political participation can in turn lead the public to be better at decision making and will further help them accomplish higher qualities of participation. It will also counteract the widely spread myth of lack of faith in citizen capacity. It rests on the core idea that the person who is experiencing the effect of these decisions knows and understands the issues associated with it than politicians and bureaucrats who are completely disconnected from the real-world implications[5].
The Paris Commune of 1871 and Revolutionary Catalonia in Spain during 1930s implemented participatory democracy. Porto Alegre, one of the largest cities in Brazil experimented with Participatory democracy in its budgeting on public investment called the Participatory Budget where citizens participated and voted directly on how the public money should be allocated on various projects through neighborhood, regional and city-wide assemblies[6]. Participatory budgeting led to phenomenal increase in the quality of life of its citizens by increasing basic amenities like sewer and water connections, schools and increased citizen involvement. In 2011, Ireland authorized use of Citizens Assembly, “We the Citizens”, as a participatory democratic body to discuss amendments to the constitution by deliberation and referendum. Decisions to legalize gay marriage and abortions were passed by these participatory democratic bodies[7]. In 2019, France created the Citizens’ Climate Convention (CCC), a dedicated citizens’ assembly to discuss climate change[8]. The UK, like France, also held a citizens’ assembly in 2020 to discuss paths to address climate change[9]. Switzerland uses participatory democracy under which all laws written by the legislature has to go to referendums. Swiss citizens may also enact popular initiatives: a process whereby citizens can put forward a constitutional amendment or the removal of an existing provision, if the proposal receives signatures by one hundred thousand citizens[10].
E-democracy is used to describe a variety of proposals made to increase citizen participation through technology and mostly rests on using smartphones and internet. Online Open discussion forums provide citizens the opportunity to debate public policy while facilitators guide discussion.Online deliberative polling provides citizens the opportunity to deliberate with peers online before answering a poll question[11]. It is thought to be a better way to assess public opinion while encouraging increased citizen awareness on policy issues. Online referendums give citizens greater decision-making power by giving them the ultimate choice in the passage of legislation. Citizens can use referendums to engage in policy-making power if they are allowed to draft proposals to be put to referenda. E-democracy is only possible when every citizen has access to the technology to convey his decisions. Town meetings are a local participatory democratic means to provide all residents with legislative power. It ensures that local policy decisions are made directly by members of the town/village without any representatives. With its open-source software, DemocracyOS allows citizens to engage in proposing, deliberating and voting on policy issues that are relevant to them, providing the opportunity to engage in democratic discussions. It has been used in Tunisia to debate its national constitution, by the Federal Government of Mexico to develop its open government policy, by the youngest parliamentarian in Kenya to consult his constituency and by the Congress of Buenos Aires[12].
Consensus democracy is characterized by a decision-making structure which takes into account a broad a range of opinions, as opposed to systems where minority opinions can potentially be ignored by vote-winning majorities. Consensus decision-making encourages participants to develop and decide on proposals with the aim of acceptance by all. All participants contribute equally to create a shared proposal and amend it into a decision that meets the concerns of all group members as much as possible rather than competing for personal preferences. It results in better decisions which address all potential concerns, better implementation through greater cooperation and can foster greater group cohesion and interpersonal connection. Consensus democracy is embodied in countries such as Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Lebanon, Sweden, Iraq, and Belgium, where consensus is important for preventing the domination of one linguistic or cultural group over the minority[13]. In Canada, the territorial governments of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut operate on a consensus model. The Dutch uses a model of consensus democracy called the Polder model which is thought to have developed historically from different societies living in the same land reclaimed from the sea, who were forced to cooperate, because without unanimous agreement on shared responsibility for maintenance of the dykes and pumping stations, the polders would have flooded and everyone would have suffered.
The model of Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava) has earned widespread support for its implementation of direct democracy based on an anarchistic, feminist, and libertarian socialist ideology promoting decentralization, gender equality, environmental sustainability, social ecology and pluralistic tolerance for religious, cultural and political diversity[14][15]. Rojava has been the most democratic system in Syria, with direct open elections, universal equality, respecting human rights within the region, as well as defense of minority and religious rights within Syria. The region has a new social justice approach that emphasizes rehabilitation, empowerment, social care and transformative justice over retribution[16]. The autonomous region is ruled by a coalition which bases its policy ambitions to a large extent on the democratic libertarian socialist ideology of democratic confederalism and has been described as pursuing a model of economy that blends co-operative and market enterprise, through a system of local councils having minority, cultural and religious representation.
Rojava has the highest standard of living throughout Syria. By creating a political entity opposed to the capitalist nation-state, Rojava experienced an original experience of democratic, decentralized and non-hierarchical society, based on feminist, ecology, cultural pluralism, co-operative sharing economy, and participatory politics and consensual democracy. It is a model of participatory democracy built on the self-government of local communities and the organization of open councils, town councils, local parliaments, and larger congresses, allowing citizens and communities to exercise a real influence over their common environment and activities. In Rojava, each position at each level of government includes a “female equivalent of equal authority” to a male. At the local level, citizens create Peace and Consensus Committees, which make group decisions on minor criminal cases and disputes.There are separate committees which resolve issues of specific concern to women’s rights like domestic violence and marriage. The region’s civil government has been hailed in international media for human rights advancement in in the legal system, women’s rights, ethnic minority rights, freedom of Speech and Press and for hosting refugees.
Democracy, in simple terms, is actually having a say in every decision that actually affects you. It embodies the very idea of liberty, equality and justice in its highest and most egalitarian interpretations. Every individual has the right to dignity, participate equally in decision making, create and access knowledge, is entitled to a share of the technological progress and freedom to pursue their own intellectual and creative avenues. We must learn from the expanded ideas of democracy and look into how different forms of democracy are practiced in different societies all over the world. That knowledge will help us imagine and work towards creating a new way in which our society should be organized and function, where these oppressive hierarchies can cease to exist and we can coexist peacefully.
Please read Part 1 of this article here.
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References
[1] J. W. Smith, Economic Democracy: The Political Struggle for the 21st century, Radford, VA: Institute for Economic Democracy Press, 2005.
[2] P.-J. Proudhon, What is Property? Or, an Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government, 1840.
[3] “Co-operative Culture,” Mondragon, [Online]. Available: http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/ENG/Co-operativism/Co-operative-Experience/Co-operative-Culture.aspx.
[4] R. Wolff, “Yes, there is an alternative to capitalism: Mondragon shows the way,” The Guardian, 24 June 2012. [Online]. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/24/alternative-capitalism-mondragon.
[5] J. D. Wolfe, “A Defense of Participatory Democracy,” The Review of Politics, vol. 47, no. 3, p. 370–389, 1985.
[6] C. Ross, The Leaderless Revolution: How Ordinary People Can Take Power and Change Politics in the 21st Century, Simon & Schuster, 2011.
[7] D. M. Farrell and J. Suiter, Reimagining Democracy, Cornell University Press, 2019.
[8] L.-G. Giraudet, B. Apouey, H. Arab, S. Baeckelandt, P. Begout, N. Berghmans, N. Blanc, J.-Y. Boulin, E. Buge, D. Courant and A. Dahan, “Deliberating on Climate Action: Insights from the French Citizens’ Convention for Climate,” 2021.
[9] C. M. R. Wilson, “Getting Climate Citizens’ Assemblies Right,” Carnegie Europe, 5 November 2020. [Online]. Available: https://carnegieeurope.eu/2020/11/05/getting-climate-citizens-assemblies-right-pub-83133.
[10] W. Linder and S. Mueller, Swiss Democracy: Possible Solutions to Conflict in Multicultural Societies, 2021.
[11] G. Smith, Democratic innovations : designing institutions for citizen participation, Cambridge, UK, 2009.
[12] “DemocracyOS,” DemocracyOS, [Online]. Available: https://democraciaos.org/en/.
[13] A. Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms & Performance in Thirty-six Countries, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999.
[14] A. Shahvisi, “Beyond Orientalism: Exploring the Distinctive Feminism of Democratic Confederalism in Rojava,” Geopolitics, pp. 1-25, 2018.
[15] J. Jongerden, Rethinking Politics and Democracy in the Middle East, 2012.
[16] C. Ross, “The Kurds’ Democratic Experiment,” The New York Times, 30 September 2015. [Online]. Available: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/30/opinion/the-kurds-democratic-experiment.html.
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Pranav Jeevan P is currently a PhD candidate in Artificial Intelligence at IIT Bombay. He has earlier studied quantum computing in IIT Madras and Robotics at IIT Kanpur.
