The Digital Civilizations Interviews

The paradox of (representative) democracy's victory

Democracy has won at a global level, it appears as the only viable non-authoritarian model, to such an extent that nations feel they have the right to exercise pressure in the name of humanity on non-democratic countries.

However, all is not well and it has never stimulated so little enthusiasm. The poor quality of democratic debate and the feeling that the institutions are incapable of changing people's daily lives are the sources of disenchantment and a generalised reduction in participation in electoral systems. The need for greater openness that is expressed everywhere results more from a distrust of the political classes than a desire to participate. In an apparently paradoxical way, it is conjugated with a search for "strong men" even if this has a cost in terms of morals or freedoms (Poutin, Berlusconi, growth of extreme parties...). Could this be linked to our ongoing requirement for institutions to provide in terms of security that explains the growing demand for protective rules for our daily lives, tobacco, respect, nutrition, etc.

Participative democracy was intended to re-involve citizens in public decision-making but is also faced with difficulties: poor involvement in public decision-making, captation of the participation, expressions of egoism (NIMBY, Not In My Back Yard) and there is no oversight device that clearly enshrines it... Compared to some real successes, there are many disappointments. Other methods are trying to find their place especially in new fields such as the relationship between science and society: consensus conferences, citizen panels, etc.

The feeling that political institutions are no longer capable of responding to the complexity of today's world also leads to elected representatives abdicating in favour of the legal system on one hand and independent committees, agencies and authorities on the other hand with objectives and methods that can themselves become debateable.

In short, the democratic equilibrium is fragile especially as one of the leading global powers, China, is not a democracy and is not going down that road. The report Mapping the Future from the US National Intelligence Council underlines that a backward step in some countries (ex-USSR countries, new South-East Asian democracies...) can not be excluded.