The world is going through a turbulent period, marked by the increasing prevalence of the logic of force in the management of international relations, while international law is losing its importance as a normative framework. In recent years, numerous flagrant and repeated violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law have been committed in various contexts. Instead of a world governed by law, we now live in a world ruled by unchecked force, and instead of a global democracy, we are under the yoke of a brutal tyranny exercised by imperialist powers and lawless states that have no fear of reprisal from the international community and its institutions.
This volatile period is also characterized by the erosion of so-called democratic regimes in many European and American countries, due to the spread of extremist ideologies, elite corruption, the influence of lobbies, and the manipulation of elected institutions by oligarchies of the wealthy and influential who wield more power than the people’s representatives. We also observe the persistence of authoritarian regimes in the Arab world, their brutality toward their people, and their subservience to foreign powers that guarantee their survival despite the rejection of their populations. In reality, these regimes exploit the emergence of authoritarian tendencies in Western systems of government and in international relations to justify their own authoritarian behaviour.
It is now clear that the democracy the West, and more specifically the United States of America, wishes to impose on our countries is merely a sham, whose sole purpose is to maintain their hegemony over our people and impose their values. This “imperialist democracy” is in reality more dangerous than the “facade democracy” touted by our authoritarian regimes.
Despite the risks inherent in a distorted practice of democracy, the democratic model remains the best suited to organizing political life in our country, provided that democratic practices are reviewed, adapted, and protected against the aforementioned risks, rather than abandoned, and that the principles and foundations guaranteeing the sovereignty and interests of our people are clarified. The purpose of this note is to contribute to this effort by identifying some elements to consider when discussing the concept of democracy, in the hope that this may initiate a broad dialogue among the political and intellectual elites of a society that aspires to democratic governance.
In this troubled world, where the law of the jungle now prevails, the only way to guarantee Algeria’s national security and protect it against the risks of foreign interference is to establish a healthy relationship between those who govern and those who are governed, in order to strengthen social cohesion and cooperation to repel any aggression. Accumulating military equipment is useless in deterring an aggressor if citizens are marginalized, excluded from political decision-making processes, and do not feel involved in shaping their country’s destiny. Such a healthy relationship can only be established through genuine democratic practice, which makes citizens both actors and the ultimate goal of all public policy.
2. What is Democracy?
The concept of democracy is one of the most hotly debated and controversial issues, in many West Asian and North African countries, including Algeria. At the extremes of the ideological spectrum, there are those who venerate it and those who demonise it. In a context of political confrontation and ideological polarisation, it is therefore difficult to approach the question of democracy dispassionately. The inability of society to reach a minimum common understanding of what democracy is, transcending ideological divides, is a major obstacle to the process of building the rule of law and a key factor in the perpetuation of authoritarian regimes.
There is no universal definition of democracy. In the academic and political world, it is defined in a variety of ways. Some approach it from a purely philosophical point of view, seeing it as a doctrine that gives sovereignty and supreme authority to the people, or even as a worldview; others reduce it to a mere procedure that guarantees the people the choice of their representatives, making it synonymous with election. There are those who see it as the least bad political system available, and those who see it as a process for resolving disputes within a diverse and pluralistic society. Ultimately, it is up to each society to give it its own widely accepted definition. In what follows, two ways of defining democracy are presented, one emanating from the United Nations and the other from the academic field.
2.1. A UN Definition
The UN Commission on Human Rights, replaced in 2006 by the Human Rights Council, defines democracy by its essential elements (1), namely:
“(1) respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, freedom of association, freedom of expression and opinion;
(2) access to power and its exercise in accordance with the rule of law;
(3) the holding of periodic free and fair elections by universal suffrage and by secret ballot as the expression of the will of the people;
(4) a pluralistic system of political parties and organizations;
(5) the separation of powers;
(6) the independence of the judiciary;
(7) transparency and accountability in public administration, and
(8) free, independent and pluralistic media.”
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2) considers that democracy aims to:
“(1) preserve and promote the dignity and fundamental rights of the individual;
(2) achieve social justice;
(3) foster the economic and social development of the community;
(4) strengthen the cohesion of society;
(5) enhance national tranquillity; and
(6) create a climate that is favourable for international peace.”
2.2. A Galtunian Definition
In his contribution “Democracy, Peace, Devolopment” (3), Johan Galtung (1930-2024), a Norwegian mathematician and sociologist regarded as the founder of peace and conflict studies, considers that “democracy is rule with the consent of the ruled according to rules that make the rulers accountable to the ruled.” He suggests that if we want to grasp the essence of democracy, we should look at it through a triangular prism: the first side is about ruling by the consent of the ruled, the second is about resolving conflicts non-violently, and the third is about guaranteeing basic human needs and rights. This leads to an alternative definition that sees democracy as “a system steered by human rights that uses voting, negotiation, and dialogue for the nonviolent and creative resolution of conflicts over distribution of the social surplus. This includes the meta-conflict over the choice of rulers to decide over that distribution, and the succession conflict when the mandate of a ruler has to be renewed or rejected.”
Another point raised by Galtung relates to the acquisition and distribution of power. As people’s rule, he argues, democracy could read “empowerment of all”, and-or “sharing power”. Social cohesion and lasting stability can only be achieved through a fair distribution of power in all its forms (political, military, economic and cultural). Total asymmetry in the distribution of power and the monopolisation of all its forms by a single group in society inevitably leads to ephemeral stability which lasts only as long as the balance of power is in favour of the dominant group. If certain forms of power are in the hands of one group and other forms are in the hands of another, then we are talking about a rank discrepancy that leads to instability in society.
A) A fair distribution of political power would imply:
(1) periodic elections by free-secret ballot for power transfer;
(2) majority rule combined with guaranteed minority rights;
(3) a dialogue culture for problem-solving, conflict resolution;
(4) a nonviolence culture to articulate and tolerate protest;
(5) a vibrant civil society independent of State and Capital.
B) A fair distribution of military power would imply:
(1) minimizing the means and use of coercion, maximizing nonviolence;
(2) civilian control over military decision-making.
C) A fair distribution of economic power would imply:
(1) the right and duty to contribute to the production of value;
(2) guaranteed basic needs satisfaction for all.
D) A fair distribution of cultural power would imply:
(1) the right to feel culturally at home, in one’s own idiom;
(2) the right to be ruled by one’s own kind, even if not a majority;
(3) the duty to respect other cultures, and engage in dialogues.
2.3. Functions of Democracy
Democracy enables people to:
(1) choose the body that makes the laws that govern them;
(2) choose the executive body at all levels;
(3) choose the judicial body by which they are judged;
(4) control the armed forces and the security apparatus.
2.4. What is not Democracy
Democracy is neither democratism nor electoralism. It is a system of government that cannot be equated with democratism, i.e. a faith or religion that replaces the beliefs of society. Furthermore, democracy goes far beyond electoralism, an ideology that believes that all society’s problems can be solved through the ballot box. The consequence of this is to reduce democratic action to elections and to limit the scope of democracy to electoral periods. While the electoral process is an essential element of democracy, the democratic process is not limited to elections. In its extreme form, electoralism can lead to the dictatorship of the majority.
3. Democracy and the Cultural Context
Democracy does not rest on itself or on a cultural vacuum, but it reflects a system of shared principles fundamental values that are the cement that binds together the different components of society and strengthens the cohesion between them.
The form and characteristics of the democratic system (representative or direct democracy, consensual or majoritarian, based on dialogue or debate, participatory or spectatorial, etc.) are determined by the historical and cultural context of the society. A democratic model cannot be imported from abroad like an ordinary consumer good, let alone imposed from outside.
4. Democracy and Social Cohesion
The success of the democratic system depends on the extent to which political action is based on the concept of citizenship and the equality of citizens before the law.
One of the conditions for the success of democracy in a diverse and pluralistic society is the shared conviction of the different components of society of the need to act together to build a cohesive society and establish the rule of law and good governance.
Democracy can be seen as a process in which the different components of society jointly commit themselves to interacting in the same space through what John Rawls calls “overlapping consensus” (4). It can also be seen as a process that enables society to move from passive diversity and indifferent cohabitation between its components to positive interaction and genuine pluralism based on a pact between them, what Christopher Stewart et al. call “covenental pluralism” (5).
5. Democracy and Dialogue
The essence of democracy is dialogue. It is a mechanism that feeds on consultation before decisions are taken, and the success of any democratic system depends on the participation of all in dialogue, regardless of their ideological references; ideological exclusion is therefore an obstacle to building a democratic system.
In managing the affairs of the city and-or state, decisions are taken at different levels, either to elect representatives and governors or to choose public policies. While the election of a member of a legislative assembly, a chief executive or a judge is often done through the “debate-vote” process (win-lose) and may involve negotiations that often lead to compromises, the adoption of public policies should ideally be done through the “dialogue-consensus” process (win-win).
6. Democracy and the Rights of Electoral Majority and Minorities
Democratic practice guarantees the peaceful transfer of power; it results in an electoral majority and minorities. To allay fears that the fundamental rights of the minorities will be violated by the majority, laws and procedural rules defining the framework within which democratic action takes place must be agreed, before political competition, by all components of society, with their different references. These laws and procedural rules must provide for the protection of the constitutional rights of the electoral minorities. A fortiori, they must prevent the abuse of power by an electoral minority against the electoral majority, preventing it, through violence, from exercising power.
The essential elements of democracy, mentioned above, and the agreed laws and procedural rules, constitute the preconditions for democratic action.
But it cannot be decided in advance on issues related to societal choices as a condition for engaging in a national dialogue to establish a democratic system. All political forces have the right to discuss them, but the decision on these issues rests with the people and its electorate.
7. How to Protect Democracy?
The democratic system can face many challenges, such as the omnipresence of lobbies, the spread of corruption, the excessive role of money in shaping public opinion, especially during elections, the control of the media by a minority, the intervention of modern technologies in influencing election results, the opportunism and short-termism of politicians to win elections, and the incitement of populism to exploit the democratic system to violate fundamental human rights. The practice of democracy requires a high level of awareness, capacity and political education of citizens so that they are able to make informed choices and avoid the pitfalls that could threaten the democratic system.
The practice of democracy must be protected by laws, instruments and procedures that limit the influence of lobbies and money and the manipulation of public opinion, and that ensure genuinely free and fair elections.
8. Conclusion
Democracy is a tool to legitimise power and to exercise the sovereignty of the people, as well as an endogenous, inclusive and participatory decision-making mechanism, that does not contradict the society’s cultural context, aimed at the non-violent settlement of disputes, at peaceful coexistence and lasting positive interaction between the components of society, and at guaranteeing the peaceful transfer of power. Democracy works to empower all citizens and to distribute all forms of power equitably. To function properly, democracy requires a high level of political awareness among citizens and a set of laws and procedures to protect it from the challenges it faces.
References
(1) Further measures to promote and consolidate democracy. Résolution 2002/46. UN Commission on Human Rights. 23 April 2002.
(2) Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. About democracy and human rights
(3) Galtung, Johan V. and Scott Paul D. Democracy – Peace – Development. Transcend University Press (2008).
(4) John Rawls. A Theory of Justice. Harvard University Press (1971) and Political Liberalism. Columbia University Press (1993).
(5) Stewart W. Christopher; Seiple, Chris and Hoover Dennis R. Covenantal pluralism: Toward a world of peaceable neighborhoods. In The Routledge Handbook of Religious Literacy, Pluralism, and Global Engagement. Routledge, London (2021).
