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Le Monde, France

The Misery of the 'Electoral Circus'

 

“It is through the conduit of the popular vote, and not necessarily as a result of vote fixing, that transfers of power have increasingly tended toward political dynasties, such as the Bhutto family in Pakistan, the Ghandhis in India, father and son of the Bush family in the United States; the Bongos [in Gabon], the Kabilas [in the Congo], or the Eyadémas [in Togo].”

 

By Jean Salem*

                           http://worldmeets.us/images/Jean.Salem.mug_pic.png

 

Translated By Jill Naeem

 

March 23, 2012

 

France- Le Monde - Original Article (French)

The sacredness of universal suffrage: Is this what Alexis de Tocqueville had in mind?

THE CASE FOUNDATION: Residents of Washington D.C. explain what democracy means to them, July 2, 00:02:10RealVideo

When considering our faltering civilization, I think it beneficial to paint a broad picture of the electoral circus; the confiscation of power that this circus allows right before our very eyes; and the regime of uninterrupted elections that renders life for citizens of democracies so exhausting.

 

The electoral circus hinges on the implausibility of public speeches made by notable figures, and the appalling disconnection between themselves and high culture. It is a race to completely wipe out any historical memory, in which the actors play second-rate “paper games” to try and pretend that they really detest one another. But most of all, it is the utterly mind-blowing result of what follows from what philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville called "universal suffrage."

 

For it is through the conduit of the popular vote, and not necessarily as a result of vote fixing, that transfers of power have increasingly tended toward political dynasties, such as the Bhutto family in Pakistan, the Ghandhis in India, father and son of the Bush family in the United States; the Bongos [in Gabon], the Kabilas [of the Congo], or the Eyadémas [in Togo]. And what of the Karamanlis and the Papandréous, where we are no longer talking about a single generation of sons, but of grandsons (the hereditary Greek democracy was embodied by five members of these two families for 37 out of the last 50 years!).

 


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Moreover, we have to realize that today, just as universal suffrage is frequently trampled underfoot, its virtues, greatness and sacredness are equally and emphatically boasted of. Do the people vote “as they should”? The cohort of yes-men and the columnists they pay are quick to congratulate themselves when they do. And if they vote “badly?” Then the election must be rerun as quickly as possible (France, Ireland, the Netherlands). And when they vote badly? (Palestine in 2006) Then let us bomb them.

 

“Political life” is no more than a theater of shadows, devoid of the major issues that concern the public. In addition, election turnout continues to decline in the major industrialized countries. In 2008, a “record” year, Barrack Obama collected the votes of some 30 percent of the American electorate. And during the June 2009 European elections, the “hyper-abstention” rate of registered voters across every E.U. country reached 57 percent. This is how, in these times of such civic discontent, a small fraction of the overall electorate amounts to a huge majority of votes cast.   

Posted by Worldmeets.US

 

Some would have us believe that the measure of a proper “democracy” is an election process with impartial observers - the election being the queen of politics and touchstone of all virtue. In addition, this cabaret, which revolves increasingly around local issues, has a new accomplice: the poll, which is now considered one of the higher arts. This practice, in addition to reducing politics to a kind of market place, puts “informed” citizen in the middle of a never-ending election campaign. 

 

The circus of uninterrupted neoliberal reform is answered by the political-media circus of uninterrupted voting and a regime of continuous polling, which is based on marketing principles taught in college, and which appear to give the "consumer" an illusion of choice.

 

*Jean Salem is a philosopher and professor at the University of Paris I-Panthéon-Sorbonne

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[Posted by Worldmeets.US April 1, 3:49pm]

 






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