I’d like to reinvigorate this page over the coming months. I intend to write commentary one or two times a week on themes relevant to democracy and the approach to this topic that I have taken in my Beginners Book. The approach, broadly construed, is that of “deliberative democracy.” Let me begin by commenting on a recent blog by NYT’s Ross Douthat (douthat.blogs.nytimes/2014/07/02/no-one-expects-the-caliphate/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0) that is itself a comment on an essay by Mark Lilla in the New Republic. The thesis is that the assumption that liberal democracies are a culmination of enlightened ideals (e.g., Liberty and Equality) have been challenged by the Arab Winter (the collapse of the Arab Spring) and the rise of ISIS and its desire for a Caliphate (with it 7th Century views of justice and women, etc). My view is that the model of democracy that has guided much foreign policy over the past several decades has been what Barber calls a ‘thin, liberal democracy’ – the kind you get in our own constitution – basic rights and a mechanical system for voting and legislation (i.e., individual votes, the Electoral College, the regional and state representation, a divided government with checks and balances, etc.). But thinkers like Dewey rightfully point out that it is also the individual who must become a ‘democrat’ – a person willing and able to adopt the civic virtues of a citizen. Paramount among those are the ability to tolerate and even learn from other points of view. Connected to this is the ability to state one’s reasons – even in the form of a story – that others can understand – what John Rawls called ‘pubic reasoning’ (no simple and final quotes from a sacred text that others don’t adhere to, etc). What led to the ‘failure’ of democracy in many countries was not democracy itself, but a failure to appreciate to fullness of a strong democracy – and to recognize and cultivate the civic virtues germane to that democracy.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 17:35:22 +0000
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