There is danger in success. An initial head start can gradually turn into an obstacle to further progress. In Western Europe and Northern America, we might claim with some justice that we invented modern democracy (shedding considerable quantities of blood in the process), but this does not legitimize a condescending attitude towards the rest of the world. Of course, it is good and noble to stimulate democratic nation building where such is still lacking, but this should never take the form of blindly pushing our own solutions through the throats of the people we are trying to help. We should not only hand out methods and means, but we should also listen and see if we can learn from them. For this reason, we will make a small journey in this issue of Politeia. First, we will have a look at some recent experiences with elections in Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Romania. Then, we will explore some possibilities for sharing methods and ideas. And finally, we will focus on the weakest link in the democracies of Western Europe: the European Union. Even venerable democracies are never too old to learn.
Krijn Peter Hesselink, Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek, Amsterdam
On September 10, 2006 the first parliamentary elections after the proclamation of independence were held in the Republic of Montenegro. Five parties, six coalitions and one group of citizens (all together 747 candidates) were contesting for the 81 seats in the unicameral Montenegrin Parliament. The ruling coalition of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) had to compete with a (relatively un-united) opposition: the former pro-union coalition of the Socialist People’s Party (SNP), the People’s Party (NS), the Democratic Party (DSS), the Serb List consisting of the Serbian People’s Party (SNS) and a number of smaller pro-Serbian parties, the newly established Movement for Changes (PzP), the coalition of the Liberal Party (LP) and the Bosniak Party (BS) and the Civic List (GL) consisting of the Civic Party (GP) and the Green Party (ZS). Additionally, four lists were targeting the voters of the Albanian community in Montenegro.
General elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina are at hand, once more in series since the end of the aggression (1996), and still with the same players, the same people, the same political parties, the same pre-election messages and the same (false) promises. What the government (previous, present and also future) do not want to see, with their heads persistently stuck in the sand, is the following.
These lines are written on October 1, 2006, while the fourth general elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina after the Dayton Peace Agreement are taking place. In the preceding months, a strange development occurred both in the Federation of the Bosniaks and Croats and in the ‘Republika Srpska’. Since the formerly large nationalist parties SDA, HDZ and SDS were pressured by the international community to make concessions during the overall discussion on constitutional and institutional reform, other parties took over their positions.
Asociatia Pro Democratia is pleased to announce the launching of its Electoral Code proposal. Asociatia Pro Democratia (APD) is a Romanian non-governmental, non-profit and non-party affiliated organization established in 1990. APD currently has 31 clubs in which more that 1200 citizens (members and volunteers) participate in implementing its projects. The mission of Asociatia Pro Democratia is to strengthen democracy in Romania by encouraging civic participation.
The participative aspect of democracy has proven to be one of the most important elements for ensuring a governance system close to the citizen. A maximum accessibility for citizens to the public decision-making process is a necessary condition for ensuring the civil society control over the act of governance.
Between January 2006 and December 2006, the Dutch Centre for Political Participation (Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek) is co-ordinating the project ‘European Exchange of Good Practices in the Field of Participation and Citizenship of Underrepresented Groups’. The main objective of this program is the exchange of good practices between European organisations dealing with the promotion of active citizenship and democracy. In particular, the exchange project concentrates on ascertaining new methods of bringing underrepresented groups closer to politics. Thus, the project focuses on questions such as: ‘What do participating organizations do to promote involvement of citizens in decision-making processes? What activities do they undertake in voter education and information, in political education of youth and immigrants and in promoting political participation of women?’ A second topic in the project is what these organizations do to draw the attention of politicians towards underrepresented groups and minority issues.
The Bratislava Network Effect, hosted by the British Council Slovakia, IVO and Demos will take place on 18-20 October 2006. The topic for exploration is civil society and the event will be conducted in English. At its core civil society has been understood as the ‘good society’- a traditional European vision of what society should look like- with values and ambitions based around the common good. Many have argued that Europe embodies a distinctive set of values associated with a quality of life based on both social equality and secular liberalism. Robert Kagan famously summed it up when he described Europeans as being from Venus, with an ideal of society as being peaceful, collaborative and cosmopolitan.
The spring issue of the Journal of Democracy (April 2006, vol. 17, number 2) has electoral systems as central theme. Richard Soudriette and Andrew Ellis, specialists in this topic, give an overview of electoral systems in all the (more or less) democratic countries the world. They establish the fact that ‘today the voting booth has become the internationally accepted instrument of political change. In 1974 there were only 39 electoral democracies – that is countries where multiparty national elections took place on a regular basis. By 2006, there were at least 120 countries that could be regarded as electoral democracies in one form or another.’ If there is an international trend in changes of electoral systems it is toward more proportionality. This overview article is followed by contributions on the electoral process in Iraq resulting in the December 2005 election of a National Assembly; on the September 2005 elections in Afghanistan; on the parallel political developments and electoral changes in Japan and Taiwan with as central question: ‘How did developmentalism coexist with electoral competition in these two countries? In other words, what kept economic planners from being disturbed by office-seeking politicians?’ Further contributions deal with the Tulip revolution following the flawed elections of March 2005 in Kyrgyzstan and with the fraudulent elections of November 2005 in Azerbaijan.
The first phase of the project European Citizens Consultations (see the Politeia website and www.european-citizens-consultations.eu) started on the weekend of 7/8 October with a grand scale conference of 200 citizens from all 25 member states of the EU in Expo hall 10 in Brussels. The participants, assisted by about 60 interpreters, 25 facilitators and more than 80 staff in organizational, technical and logistic functions, discussed the agenda for the 25 national citizens consultations in each member state early next year. They prioritized three topics: 1. the EU and environment and energy, 2. the global role of the EU and external borders and immigration and 3. social policies, including health care and family affairs.
How can young people be stimulated to become more involved in the European Union? The Hansard Society believes an essay competition might be a useful instrument. In partnership with the British Council and the European Commission Representation in the UK, it encourages the citizens of tomorrow to consider what impact the EU has had on their lives. Four budding young journalists from the UK will have the chance to join their counterparts from Finland on a visit to the European Commission in Brussels to attend press conferences and briefings during the Finnish Presidency. This is the perfect chance for aspiring journalists to make their mark at the highest level of political reporting. All they have to do is submit an essay on ‘What has the EU done for me?’ The winning four entries will meet up with students from Finland and join journalists and reporters from all over Europe to cover press conferences, briefings and interviews.
After the Dutch had rejected the European Constitution in the referendum of June 1, 2005, the government was at a loss how to continue. Should the European integration process be stopped, or even reverted? Or was the European Union rather in need of accelerated reform? There was a strong sense that the political elite had lost touch with the population. But should they have listened better, or should they have paid more attention to explaining the Constitution, to what might have been termed propaganda in more innocent times? Both the Dutch government and the Dutch quality newspaper NRC Handelsblad decided to try and involve the Dutch population in a discussion on the future of the European Union through the Internet.
Editors:
Ivo Hartman (Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek, the Netherlands)
Tatjana Meijvogel-Volk (Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek, the Netherlands)
Krijn Peter Hesselink (Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek, the Netherlands)
Contributors:
Cristian Bratu (Asociatia Pro Democratia, Romania)
Ana-Maria Mosneagu (Asociatia Pro Democratia, Romania)
Laura Radulescu (Asociatia Pro Democratia, Romania)
Miralem Tursinovic (Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly, Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Contributions for the next issue can be sent (preferably by e-mail and in Word) before the 1st of January 2007 to:
Politeia Newsletter
To the attention of Ms. Tatjana Meijvogel-Volk or Mr. Ivo Hartmann
Prinsengracht 915
1017 KD Amsterdam
tel: +31 20 5217600
fax: +31 20 6383118
e-mail: t.meijvogel@politeia.net, i.hartman@politeia.net
Internet: www.politeia.net
Next issue: January 2007