All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely
Lord Acton
Is there a country on the planet where this old insight can be ignored?
I don’t think so.
It’s not hard to find the stories and evidence of corruption in autocratic societies. Has there ever been a “strong man” government which wasn’t corrupt? Have there ever been dictators or monarchs who didn’t abuse their power and the people over whom they ruled?
I imagine the idea of democracy as a political system arose to attempt to prevent such abuses. If a population can remove a ruler from power then maybe that ruler’s power can be contained, maybe they can be “held to account”.
It doesn’t seem much like that when I look at the contemporary forms of democracy however. The system I know best is the U.K. and even though I don’t live there anymore, and don’t have voting rights there, what’s happening there informs my political views about how we humans might live together.
To me, the British system is a poor version of the democratic ideal. I say that for two reasons.
Firstly, there’s the House of Lords. I know I’ve started this post with a quotation from one such Lord, and there may very well be decent, well meaning people in the House of Lords, but a system which gives power for life to a group of unelected people is quite simply not remotely democratic.
Secondly, there’s the voting system based on the idea of winners and losers. Whether it’s in a General Election, or in a Referendum, the largest minority wins. Have you thought of it that way? It’s not “the majority” or “the people” who determine who has power. It’s the “winning” minority.
Has there ever been an election or a referendum in the U.K. which has won the support of the majority of those eligible to vote? Yet the winning minority always claim they “have a mandate” to wield power. With this mentality “governing for all the people” is either a delusion or a fantasy. Those who gain power, if they heed anyone, only heed the minority who vote for them.
But even if there were a genuine majority, say, 60% of those eligible to vote, supporting one particular group, what happens to the wishes, desires, values of the 40%? Telling millions of people that they “lost”, or that they should keep quiet and accept the wishes of the “majority”…..is that a path to harmony and justice?
Is it any wonder that around the world people are fed up with politicians, don’t trust them, and feel powerless? How’s that version of democracy going?
So, you’re probably saying, what would you do? Or, what can we do?
I’m sure I don’t have all the answers but in the light of the insight that power corrupts I’d say we need to build on the principles of limiting power through accountability and responsibility. Those who seek to keep hold of power, whether politicians, corporations or billionaires, typically do what they can to act in secret. Transparency, genuine openness about their actions, can begin to limit power. Tax avoidance schemes, complex accounting and company structures exist the hold power through hiding wealth and actions. Whether it’s the Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers or the Pandora Papers, leaks of secret papers reveal widespread corruption. Google any of those to read more.
So the first thing I’d call for is transparency and increasing the ability of the public to find out what those with power do with that power.
The second thing I’d call for is limiting the amount of time any one person can hold power. The House of Lords filled with unelected members holding that power for life is surely an anachronism. But those who make a career out of holding political power are surely also vulnerable. Shouldn’t there be time limits on them all. Not just on how long an MP can be a Minister or Prime Minister, but how long any individual can be an MP. Limit the number of years any individual can hold a position of political power.
My third call is for an end to voting systems which are based on enabling the largest minorities to have the greatest power. That involves a host of interconnected issues, but I’d certainly like to see the end of both “first past the post” voting for elections and “simple majority” voting in referenda.
If we want to increase trust, we need more openness and transparency. If we want to increase social cohesion we need to limit the power of “largest minorities”.
This post is a bit different from my usual but it seems to me that increasing inequality and injustice in the world demands that we pay some attention and use our imagination and creativity to come up with ways to limit power…..because “all power tends to corrupt”.
I don’t have all the answers and the points I’ve covered here are certainly not a comprehensive analysis of the problem, but my underlying principle here is “heroes not zombies” – become aware and become the active co-creator of your own life. Our current political and economic structures seem to me to act against that, preferring the existence of passive automatons over active, critical, aware individuals.
Transparency and accountability. Isn’t that what “democracy” is supposed to be about?
Heroes Not Zombies 
Very powerful and timely post, Bob!
Can I suggest a fourth thing we should call for – governmental respect for the rule of law, with mechanisms to challenge and overturn governmental breaches of the law, whether via the courts or other bodies. One of the many worrying things happening in the UK is the present government’s contempt for the rule of law, with attacks on lefty lawyers, and deriding judges as enemies of the people. Stung by court defeats over Brexit and the prorogation of Parliament, the UK government has taken legislative steps to remove the courts’ powers of judicial review of unlawful government actions. And stung by the Electoral Commission’s exposure of illegalities during the Brexit referendum campaign, the government has taken legislative steps to end the Commission’s independence.
As I say, it’s worrying. The UK hasn’t yet travelled quite as far along the road towards corruption and autocracy as some other countries, but we do seem to be heading in that direction.