Democracy is not a synonym for good government

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Of the many excellent philosophers of democracy working today, John Dunn of Cambridge university is the one best attuned to its paradoxes. His new book, Breaking Democracy’s Spell, collects four lectures given at Yale. One of them, “Diagnosing Democracy’s Power”, shows how easily democracy can fall wide of its aims, particularly in America. While never undervaluing the people’s right to choose their leaders, Professor Dunn draws a sharp distinction between that and self-government. “No one inspecting the United States today could sanely conclude that it is governed by its people,” he writes – granting at the same time that the people’s right to choose their rulers is not for nothing.

People in the west are not good at distinguishing “a happy accident from a magic formula”. Democracy is not a synonym for good government. For most of history it has been the reverse. Democracy, in Prof Dunn’s view, may be not just indifferent but hostile to law and reason. Forced to choose, most people would probably prefer law over democracy. This view, put forth by Prof Dunn in 2011, has been vindicated in Ukraine. Generally, western observers wanted to see President Viktor Yanukovich ousted because he was corrupt – not left alone on the grounds he was democratically elected. Opposition parties in the west are experimenting with ways to remove unpopular politicians more swiftly. In the US, system, congressional investigations, impeachments and shamings can serve almost as a vote of no-confidence does in UK and European parliaments.