Why do those who eschew democracy also desperately want to be elected?
Russia is set to hold presidential elections soon. Iran recently held elections. China held its presidential elections about a year ago. Even Saddam Hussein, when he ruled Iraq, held elections.
Kicker, in those elections, is that there really is only one choice on the ballot. You vote for your leader or you die. In some countries it’s that simple and that brutal.
But why go through the farce?
Legitimacy. Or at least the pretense of legitimacy.
There is power in a majority of people choosing you to be their representative. It’s the foundation of democracy.
Dictators and autocrats, many of whom were originally legitimately elected, understand that and like to pretend they still have legitimate elections. They don’t.
But we still do. And we need to continue to do so.
We need to only look south of the border to see democracy under attack in the country that historically billed itself as the world’s greatest democracy.
Years of gerrymandering and the rise of Donald Trump have certainly put that into question.
Is Canada’s democracy secure? Stable?
It won’t be if we don’t work at it.
The one basic tenet of democracy that seems to be eroding is the foundational piece of majority rules.
Beware of anyone whose views are so entrenched that they cannot accept that a majority of people think otherwise. They are often the ones who scream the loudest about democracy and, when you take a close look, only want the majority to bend to their will. That isn’t democracy.
The people who want our leaders drawn and quartered don’t want democracy, they want anarchy.
The beauty of our democracy is that, by election, we change governments every so often, whether we need to or not. And, we accept that change.
Beware of anyone, and anything, that does not.
Bill Phillips is an award-winning columnist with 35 years of experience in community newspapers.