Democracy: A Consensus?
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A Word from the Editor
A word from our Editor-in-Chief, Christine Ernst
The rise of authoritarian regimes poses a frightening threat to the liberal international order and is a frontal assault on the democratic ideal. So warns U.S. presidential hopeful John McCain, who has urged like-minded governments to form a ‘League of Democracies’ as a bulwark against this trend. [...]
Democracy: A Loser’s Game
Lindsay Gumley explores why some political parties are unwilling to lose an election.
Months before elections in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the city seemed to be holding its breath. Development paused, investment stalled, construction sites were untouched for weeks and some factories had even been temporarily closed. In a country that has seen violence destabilise its capital after every election since 1993, the people were apprehensive. Not about who would win the coming election, but about who would lose. [...]
In Defence of Attack Ads
May Samali dispels the myths about negative political advertising in the United States and Australia.
Hillary Clinton’s recent campaign in the Democrat presidential primaries in the United States included an infamous ‘3am phone call’ advertisement, designed to alarm voters about Barack Obama’s political inexperience. Likewise, the Australian Liberal Party’s 2004 federal election campaign capitalised on the alliterated slogan ‘Latham the Learner’, to attack Mark Latham’s alleged failings as Liverpool mayor. [...]
Electing Terrorists?
Gerard McCarthy explores the role of elections in instilling civic virtue in the Middle East.
Islamist groups throughout the Middle East are beginning to embrace democracy and compete in national elections. However, many question their commitment to democracy beyond a tactical means of power, claiming that it will be “one man, one vote, one time”. One major justification for authoritarian regimes in the Middle East has been the danger of Muslim citizens electing radical Islamist parties to government. Given this prospect, Western powers have often supported autocrats over theocrats. [...]
The Bond Of Accountability
Daniel Ward explores the virtues of democratically elected leaders.
One of the common objections to representative democracy is that it rarely produces ‘good leaders’. Each leader deemed incompetent seems to be manifest proof of democracy’s inadequacy. It is this frustration that leads some to consider democracy, in Winston Churchill’s words, “the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
The Last Word
A final word from the Deputy Editor, Christopher Beshara
When Christine and I settled on ‘Democracy: A Consensus?’ as the title of this issue of The Sydney Globalist, the inclusion of that question mark was intended to convey more than just a witty pun. We wanted to emphasise not only that democracy is an elastic concept, but also that the pursuit of unwavering consensus may be a red herring in a world mired by power politics, moral partisanship and flirtations with authoritarianism. [...]
