A Plea Against Populism

This is a response to Paul Staines's call to re-introduce the death penalty via e-petition as well as a general argument against populism.

It is often said of leading politicians that they are 'out of touch' with the average voters, lacking understanding of their needs and wants, as well as the issues that shape their existence. This is inaccurate. Not only are our politicians out of touch, but anyone interested in or connected to politics is out of touch. I am, and so are you. Most people do not care about politics, and so the great questions and arguments of the day have little relevance outside the realms of internet debate and the corridors of power. A useful realisation when you are about to begin a glib war of words on the Guardian comments page. We know this as voter apathy has been declining steadily for many years. Since 1997, at least 30% of voters have not gone to the polls. I have said before that a real democrat votes every day, so that a considerable amount people are not bothered to even come out to vote one day every 5 or so years, is a terrible indictment for the liberties that ordinary Britons struggled so long to obtain.

The solution does not, and must not, however, be found in a populist revival, such as e-petitions or a 'tea party'-esque grass-roots machine. These solutions are false as they rest on belief in instantaneous change when in reality real change takes many years. Moreover, as the US tea party has shown, they are often susceptible to manipulation by vested interests and misdirection by media influences. As well as this, such direct populism engineers the notion that because an idea has majority backing there can be no legitimate argument against it. This is a profoundly incorrect and dangerous inclination, avoiding all rational counterarguments or moral reasoning. JS Mill's argument that; “If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.” What I mean is that, while apathy may be caused by one extreme of politicians being too out of touch with the electorate, the solution does not lie in another extreme, where the people cut out professional politicians altogether, to create an uncontrollable direct democracy. This form of populism often leads to divisive and even violent expressions of politics.

More so, those that do vote are mostly ignorant or deceived on the major issues. This is not an elitist or 'fascist' argument, simply put, in recent times, people have increasingly doubted solid evidence, believing that, in the age of individuality, that their own beliefs trump those of even the most thorough scientist. Take global warming. I do not wish to debate the validity of the theory, but it is a fact that whereas a consensus has been formed among scientists, only around 50% of the public in the West, agree with the experts. Similarly, despite studies having found no wrongs with water fluoridation, public reaction is strangely rejective, causing many councils to refrain from the electorally 'suicidal' process, due to mass public outcry. This mimics the furore over MMR and autism also. Here, yet again, populism hounded onto a false and ultimately damaging cause, with many children left without vaccination and vulnerable to illness, with cases of measles in England and Wales rising from 56 to 971.

Ergo, Mr. Staines, the self proclaimed 'Guido Fawkes' of modern political sub-culture, is clearly misguided in calling for an e-petition to revive the death penalty. Aside from the obvious hypocrisy of a man who often demands that even more powers be removed from the state yet then calls from it to be empowered to kill people, to suggest capital punishment somehow has always had popular backing if no real referendum has ever been offered. Even if it did, in the British system, the elected representatives should have the final say on such a matter, as they know all the facts involved, whereas the ordinary folk are too swayed by homogeneous influences, from the media, or crusading bloggers. US data shows the facts are on our side; in 1996, those US states with the death penalty had an average murder rate of 7.1 per 100,000 of population. Those states without had 3.6 per 100,000. It is no deterrent, yet no doubt Mr. Staines's campaign will get support because of its populist leanings. Time and time again populism has gone against the facts and advice of experts, fuelled purely by an emotional irrationality. Hence, I cannot see it as the answer to our malaise of apathy.

Instead, we must offer new ideas to revive public interest in politics as well as re-inventing older concepts. People must feel that their democratic actions have a direct impact on their lives. In doing so we must take back control of lives from the unaccountable shamans in the City and elsewhere and return it to the public sector. More practically, I'd advocate state funding of political parties from taxes, so that parties are directly accountable to the people, as well as something more symbolic, say a speaker's corner in every town, to bring politics closer to everyday lives. One could even go so far as to enforce compulsory voting, but with a 'none of the above option”, so that are elections can truly be seen as a gauge of public opinion.

Edmund Burke in the 1700s, argued for the benefits of indirect democracy, to avoid 'tyranny of the majority' or as he put it giving power to the 'swinish multitudes'. Although we may see his view of ordinary people as unacceptable, he does make a point. Elected representatives to make decisions for us are necessary, as ordinary people cannot hope to have the time to concern themselves with the complexities of the true state of affairs. Truly effective and democratic government must lie between the chilling apathy of corrupt and out of touch politicians and the fiery hatred of populism. All we have to do is find it.

Sign the counter petition (to continue to ban the death penalty) at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1090