Peter Mandelson has gone on record as saying the era of democracy is drawing to a close and we are entering a post democratic period. There is a growing band of support for the theory that a Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess out of the treasury with the result that democracies always collapse over a loose fiscal policy, always to be followed by a dictatorship.
This is known as the "free-rider problem" (or as we might say no such thing as a free lunch) which occurs when a significant number of citizens are content to enjoy the benefits of living in a democracy while leaving it to others to pay the costs.
Maybe the time to end universal suffrage is upon us?
No comments:
Post a Comment