State Of The Nations
An interactive inquiry: Which questions should we answer if we want to fix political abuse?
From Canada to Russia and from Turkey to Zimbabwe citizens of the world are fed up with politicians and government.
In Turkey, during the run up to a national election, fearing the spread of information about their corruption the government blocks Twitter. South Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma, by skillfully evading accountability for his own corruption and that of several ministers, sullies the legacy of Nelson Mandela. In Zimbabwe a president bankrupts his country, massacres his people but mysteriously keeps winning elections. In Canada the married mayor of Toronto snorts cocaine, parties with a prostitute, spews racist slurs at a taxi driver but sees no reason to resign. In the EU corruption costs taxpayers 120bn euros annually. In Russia, ex-KGB officer Vladimir Putin reverses all the democratic gains of Gorbachev’s perestroika and pushes the world to the brink of nuclear war. In Malaysia, government delays action, withholds vital information and raises the ire of families whose relatives are lost somewhere over the Indian Ocean.
Around the world politicians and governments are out of control. In totalitarian states and constitutional democracies alike citizens of the world are being lied to, hoodwinked, shaken down and taken for ride. Increasingly, citizens of mature liberal democracies have lost confidence in the institutions that presumably protect their rights and support their freedom.
In the United States more than 60% of the public lack trust in the presidency, lawmakers and the highest court in the land.
In Europe, citizens are fed up with the EU.
How is it possible in the 21st century for politicians to abuse power without any consequences? Is it acceptable that when they do not escape consequences, justice can be delayed often for years or thwarted by fate.
An essay in the Economist deals incisively with the problem. But have they asked the right questions? If so have they come up with the right answers.
Let’s have a constructive discussion about the problems of democracy and what we can do to fix them. Submit short articles to this collection to join the debate. Build on the ideas of others. Think beyond ideologies and theories of political science. Help people around the world to live better lives. Soon.
