[Skybird]

I found this today, and found it an interesting read.

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A TALE OF TWO ELECTIONS

John Horvath 19.04.2006

Elections in both Italy and Hungary exemplify the crisis of western democracy in the third millennium

A week and a half ago both Italy and Hungary went to the polls in national elections. Although the system of choosing a new government may be different in each country, the way in which the elections were run -- from the campaign to the end result -- were the same. Yet rather than this being just a mere coincidence, it illustrates a worrying trend in where western democracy has reached a crisis point. More worrying still, if present trends continue western democracy as it has come to be known over the past century and a half will most likely be replaced by a hybrid system that will increasingly fail to reflect democratic values.
One of the most obvious characteristics of this trend is the move to a defacto two-party system. In both Hungary and Italy, there were many parties which participated in the elections of early April. However, the vast majority of these parties no longer retain a strong sense of independence. Political parties now belong to a bloc, usually defined along the lines of left and right. Often, even this division is a little fuzzy and instead sometimes best represent a sub division of a single ideology based on a big business agenda, split between the business left and the business right.

In Hungary, where national elections are usually held in two rounds over a two week period, political parties either join together in an alliance, as with the right-wing Young Democrats (FIDESZ) and Christian Democrats, or they enter the first round separately on their own. However, when the results from the first round are in, this seemingly pluralistic system radically transforms itself into a two-bloc system, as all parties converge either to one side or the other. In some cases, as on the left with the Socialists and the Liberals, it takes the form of a formal coalition. At this point, parties which haven't already joined in an alliance or come together to form a coalition, usually pull back their candidates in favour of the candidate which represents their bloc, despite the fact that they may be against the alliance or coalition in question. Hence, in Hungary the radical right have traditionally stepped back in favour of the FIDESZ candidate, even though the latter would publicly distance themselves from the former. What is important at this juncture is group solidarity; after power has been seized the knives can be then drawn and put into each other's backs.

In Italy the process is a little different but the end result is invariably the same. The national election in Italy is a one round affair held over two days. This year's election saw the formation of two major camps: a coalition on the right headed by the incumbent Silvio Berlusconi and a coalition on the left headed by Romano Prodi. While a unique feature of Italian politics has been its fragile government coalitions, this year's election was nonetheless similar to Hungary's in that a vote for a particular party was in effect a vote for a certain bloc, again one defined on the supposed split between left and right.

Thus, although the new government which is most likely to be headed by Prodi will have a hard time of keeping its coalition together, with partners ranging from communists to catholics, a new election in one or two year's time will no doubt be fought in a similar way. The defacto two-party system has little to do with political stability; rather, it's all about narrowing political choices and expression into pre-determined and acceptable options.

As an indirect result of this, the way in which campaigns are fought nowadays are much more acrimonious. This is perhaps most vivid in Europe in where election campaigns are generally regarded as not being overly negative, as in the US. Although European party politics hasn't come down yet to the low level as election campaigns are run in the US, progress is unfortunately being made in this area. Italy was very demonstrative of this, where name calling and insults were routine. In Hungary, this type of rhetoric may have been toned down a bit, however the use of the fear factor was widespread and political violence against campaign supporters wasn't uncommon. The reason for this acrimonious state of affairs is quite obvious: as politics gravitates toward a defacto two-party system, the stakes become much higher. It's no longer a question of one party trying to secure itself a number of seats in parliament, but a group of parties trying to seize power. In many ways, it represents a civil war of sorts; indeed, this allegory has been used frequently by analysts in both Italy and Hungary who viewed the respective countries as being "split", usually "split down the middle".

Subsequently, the election results reflect this apparent split in the electorate. Elections in western democracies have become increasingly close affairs, with usually barely a percentage point separating the two main camps (the Italian election took this even further, shaving the difference to barely a tenth of a percentage point). This only reinforces the notion of a country split in two. Moreover, it sows the seed of resentment which will germinate at the next election. In some cases, as in Italy at present, it threatens to drag out the entire election process, as Berlusconi refuses to admit defeat and the country is stuck in limbo until the winner can be officially recognised.

Although both the Italian and Hungarian elections clearly reflect how politics in western democracies have substantially changed, it's actually a process which can be observed over the past few years elsewhere. The most obvious was the US presidential election in 2000, which then seemed to repeat itself four years later. In Germany there was a similar process last year that eventually led to a grand coalition between the two major rivals. The importance of the German election is it formally recognised the defacto two-party system and made obvious the pseudo-difference between left and right, which in actual fact is a split between the business left and the business right. With the business agenda in jeopardy in Germany (and elsewhere in Europe), the need for a grand coalition was of paramount importance.

One ideological bloc

All this goes a long way to explain why western democracy has changed the way it has over the years, and why this process -- if left unchecked -- represents a grave threat to the very concept of democracy itself. The looming crisis of economic globalisation is the main driving force behind this change. In Europe, it has a more concrete form: the Lisbon Agenda. The massive civil unrest in terms of strikes in Germany and Greece, as well as the protests by students in France, are all part of the same process. The political landscape, therefore, is being manipulated in order to push through so-called "reforms" without civil discourse.

Sometimes, this has led to confusion and turmoil within the political apparatus itself, especially in the immature democracies of Central and Eastern Europe. One major difference in this year's election as opposed to the one before is a seeming split within the right between the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF), which was a coalition partner in the 1998 and 2002 elections, and the FIDESZ. Although the first round result between the left and right blocs in the Hungarian election was slight, the MDF stated that it would not support the FIDESZ in the second round. This seemed to run counter to the notion of a defacto two-party system. In fact, at present there is a severe internal crisis within the MDF as many party members feel that the leadership is taking the wrong course. Also, there has been a lot of pressure coming from the outside as well, including overt threats against MDF leaders.

Far from signaling the collapse of the defacto two-party system in Hungary, the implosion of the right merely reinforces it. The MDF decision to not support the FIDESZ in the second round, which will take place on April 23rd, is based on political expediency. One of the main goals of the MDF in the new government is the outright privatisation of health care. The FIDESZ is more careful in this regard, as a referendum on the issue a year and a half ago showed that a large majority of the population are against privatisation. The left bloc, meanwhile, is supportive of the idea but have kept quiet on the issue. It's clear to see what the real motives of the MDF are, therefore: as privatisation has been one of its main goals over the past fifteen years, the MDF finds itself now drawn closer to the left bloc rather than the right. In other words, the neo-liberalist economic policies of the Socialist-Liberal coalition are more in line with the ideals of the conservative MDF.

All this helps to underscore one of the main aspects to the changes in democratic politics over the past few years. The differences between left and right have become muddled, and parties within one side of the political spectrum have become so much alike that they have crystallized into an ideological bloc. This, in turn, has limited political expression into narrow band; any party or group which attempts to take a broader view or not allow itself to be confined within these constraints are often shunned and ostracized. (good ol' Skybird sings a song of this )

One of the fundamental principles of democracy is that a citizen can make an independent choice and vote for a person or party that they feel best represents their interests. However, when the system manipulates this process by controlling to a certain extent how a person votes and what their interests are, then that person no longer lives in a democracy.

http://www.telepolis.de/r4/artikel/22/22487/1.html

[Takeda Shingen]

One man's heaven is another man's hell.

Do you miss the ends of the political spectrum? Come to the United States: You'll get lots of left, lots of right, and absolutely no center.

[TteFAboB]

[kholemann]

Too bad they don't have an election system as good as the United States.

[Kapitan]

I personaly think the british election systerm is alot better than american, we have more choice as to who we vote isnt it just democratic and republican you guys have?

We have a fair few parties the two big main ones being Conservative and Labour, we also have under dogs such as lib dems and the monster raving looney party.
(you think im joking)

[DeepSix]