The Case for Economic Democracy: Chapter 2.1

The Morality and Practicality of Political Democracy

Welcome! This is Chapter 2 of my book, “The Case for Economic Democracy,” available for premium subscribers. If you’re not a premium subscriber but would like to read it, you can get a year’s access to this and all my other writings for just $25, from now until the end of December. Enjoy! — Joe

Photo by Hansjörg Keller on Unsplash

Chapter 2: The Case for Democracy

“Liberty and equality… will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost.” — Aristotle

If there’s anything we’ve learned from the international surge of authoritarian and fascist politics, it’s that democracy (even the watered-down version we have in the United States) has been taken for granted. It took the presidency of Donald Trump, who was elected despite a minority of votes, and the January 6th attack on the election certification process of his successor to awaken America to the threat posed by opponents of democracy. But America is not alone in facing this threat.

Around the globe, despotic politicians have risen to power by attacking the very nature of democracy itself. Some, like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are cagey with their authoritarianism, teasing at their true nature with laws that exclude minorities from the voting process. Others, however, make no attempt to hide their ideology., such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who openly praises the architect of Fascism, Benito Mussolini. In France, Marine Le Pen, the daughter of a Nazi apologist, has thrice run for the French Presidency, courting a sizable portion of the vote[1]. While there are too numerous to list in their entirety, leaders populating the spectrum between “light authoritarianism” and outright Fascist have taken power in Brazil, The Philippines, Pakistan, Costa Rica, and several other nations. So while many intrinsically believe in the morale and practical need for democracy, the international surge of right-wing movements warrants a detailed argument for governance by majority.

The Morality of Democracy