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Abstract
The retreat of socially disadvantaged people from the democratic process, which can be observed for some time now, is a symptom of the decreasing ability of Western societies to integrate its citizenry. This retreat poses a serious threat to democracy and must be regarded as a feature of a post-democratic constellation. It not only runs counter to the core democratic principle of political equality, but also has a tendency to strengthen the decline of social equality. Against this background, the article discusses alternative ways of participation which aim to reintegrate socially disadvantaged people in the democratic process. In this light, the author argues in favor of the idea of granting veto rights to disadvantaged people and concludes that it is fruitful to work within the contours of experimental democracy.
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank an anonymous reviewer, the editors of this special issue and Jared Sonnicksen for their very helpful comments.
Notes
A former German version of this article was published in Politische Vierteljahresschrift (54/3).
1. In this context, the tension between democracy and capitalism in particular should be taken into account; cf. Streeck (Citation2013, Citation2014).
2. Descriptive representation means that the representative assembly should look like a mirror of the whole society. This concept can be distinguished from ‘symbolic representation’ where something or someone stands for the represented (is ‘acting for’) where it is not necessary that the represented and the representatives share crucial characteristics – the social background, the gender, or the nationality; cf. Pitkin (Citation1967).
3. Empirical studies on unconventional forms of citizen participation reveal an even higher social bias. The lower a person’s economic, social, and cultural capital, the less likely it is for him or her to participate in demonstrations, public meetings, or deliberative fora (Vebra et al. Citation1995, Stolle and Hooghe Citation2011, Geißel and Joas Citation2013).
4. I will return to this differentiation in Sections 3 and 4.
5. Regarding the model of ‘descriptive representation,’ cf. Pitkin (Citation1967, pp. 60–91); following Pitkin and with a view to the anti-Federalists’ ideas, also Manin (Citation1997, pp. 102–131). The classical formulation of this concept is by John Adams: ‘As the representative assembly should be an exact portrait, in miniature, of the people at large, as it should think, feel, reason, and act like them, great care should be taken in the formation of it, to prevent unfair, partial, and corrupt elections’ (Adams Citation1776, p. 205).
6. Malkopoulou (Citation2015a) and Hill (Citation2014) have also called for compulsory voting.
7. For a good overview about the pros and cons of sortition as a means to enable political equality, see Malkopoulou Citation2015b.
8. A current defense of the epistemic value of difference is provided by Landemore (Citation2013).
9. Young’s proposals triggered a broad discussion. Besides the objections presented here, following Phillips, others have warned especially of allegedly ‘essentialist’ implications from the perspective of the theory of difference.
10. At this point, one might argue that the political identities of socially disadvantaged citizens would also be constituted through acts of representation. However, this neglects the inequality of participation in current systems of representation, which leads to the circular problem that non-participating citizens are no longer regarded as an important part of political campaigns; hence, according to the view that political identity is constituted by representation non-participants would simply lack an identity. My thesis is, however, that many of the politically disaffected citizens share some kind of a negative political identity that is an effect of their everyday experiences. Thus, it is the task of democratic systems to reintegrate these people into the democratic institutions.
11. Manin sees aristocratic tendencies in particular in the ‘audience democracy’ that emerged in Western societies in the 1980s. In contrast, he acknowledges that the democratic character of the previous type, namely ‘party democracy,’ was relatively strong.
12. Jeffrey Winters recently confirmed this assessment empirically. For this reason, Winters considers the US an oligarchy, even despite universal suffrage, and places it on the same level as the Philippines. Although both political systems have democratic institutions, they can be circumvented by the few super-rich. ‘It is clear that oligarchy coexists remarkably easily with democracy. This means that achieving democracy, especially if this only means implanting the democratic method, is not a solution to the oligarchy problem. There is nothing automatic about ending oligarchy through the adoption of free and participatory forms of government’ (Winters Citation2011, p. 284).
13. Drawing lots as frequently as on an annual basis is supposed to counter the professionalization of the members of the ‘People’s Tribunate.’
14. Of course, it is no easy task to determine those citizens who are allowed to participate in such a referendum. One way is to grant such veto right to those whose income (either from employment or from social benefits) is below a certain threshold. Obviously, there are multiple aspects to consider in order to measure social status, such as income at personal, household, or neighborhood level, not to mention education levels, poverty, and other forms of deprivation. However, one need not reinvent the wheel, since relevant points of reference are provided by numerous organizations, e.g. Public Health, Finance or Administrations in various countries or the OECD, who develop concepts and measurements precisely for determining socioeconomic status.
15. In any case, a veto with the power to postpone decisions would contribute to less-privileged citizens being heard more. An absolute veto, however, would promise even more influence. But this could then result in significant political blockades.