Chapter 1: In Search of "True Democracy"
1.1. Deepening of democracy
Democracy has long been a global value. However, democracy is now fading away. Even in countries that claim to be models of democracy, parliamentary politics has become synonymous with money politics, and politics has turned into a place where the interests of the business and wealthy classes can be adjusted. At the same time, anti-democratic ideology has emerged in a radical form, especially in the Islamic world, in reaction to "democracy," which is often advocated as a cause for war and military intervention led by the U.S. and Europe.
The concept of the Commons' Convention and the World Commonwealth proposed in such a chaotic situation are based on the ideological foundation of pursuing and establishing anew "true democracy". "True democracy" is a clichéd phrase, but it can also be paraphrased as the deepening of democracy.
Democracy as the world standard at this point in time refers almost exclusively to parliamentary democracy. In some cases, a system of electing a head of state, such as a president, is added, but such a presidential electoral system can be considered "democratic" only if it is based on a parliamentary democracy.
However, as noted above, parliamentary democracy does not function in a truly democratic manner. It is not as simple as saying that it will function democratically if reforms are made. Originally, the parliamentary system was established in the course of overthrowing the ancient, feudal, princely, and aristocratic system of government through the civil revolution, and since the establishment of universal suffrage, it has done much to expand the scope of political participation through the electoral process, and to that extent it has been "democratic.
The reason why it is necessary to write in the completed form is that the era when parliamentary systems were democratic has come to an end. It is clear that the modern parliamentary system has become a prime example of moneyed-patronage politics where financial power and partisan connections are at stake, a system that reduces the general public to a periodic voting machine and keeps them out of day-to-day political decisions.
In this sense, the phrase "parliamentary democracy," which directly connects parliamentary system and democracy, is no longer accurate. So, we will henceforth avoid this term in this series.
That said, we must also avoid the hasty equation of parliamentary politics with dictatorship. Considering both the historical achievements and the current limitations of parliamentary systems, as pointed out earlier, it is appropriate to call parliamentary systems "limited democracies" - "parliamentary limited democracies" - but since it would be too complicated, it would be sufficient to simply refer to them as "parliamentary systems".
👉The papers published on this blog are meant to expand upon my On Communism.
