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Practical Methods and an Analytic Framework for the Enhancement of Democracy

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Practical Methods and an Analytic Framework for the Enhancement of Democracy Improving Governance: Practical Methods and an Analytic Framework for the Enhancement of Democracy By Jean-Paul Gagnon BA History, Trent | MA/PhD QUT A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Humanities Program Queensland University of Technology 11 October, 2010 Declaration I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which, to a substantial extent, has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the university or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgment has been made in the text. Signature: Name: Jean-Paul Gagnon Date: 11/10/2010 i Abstract Seven endemic governance problems are shown to be currently present in governments around the globe and at any level of government as well (for example municipal, federal). These problems have their roots traced back through more than two thousand years of political, specifically ‘democratic’, history. The evidence shows that accountability, transparency, corruption, representation, campaigning methods, constitutionalism and long-term goals were problematic for the ancient Athenians as well as modern international democratisation efforts encompassing every major global region. Why then, given the extended time period humans have had to deal with these problems, are they still present? At least part of the answer to this question is that philosophers, academics and NGOs as well as MNOs have only approached these endemic problems in a piecemeal manner with a skewed perspective on democracy. Their works have also been subject to the ebbs and flows of human history which essentially started and stopped periods of thinking. In order to approach the investigation of endemic problems in relation to democracy (as the overall quest of this thesis was to generate prescriptive results for the improvement of democratic government), it was necessary to delineate what exactly is being written about when using the term ‘democracy’. It is common knowledge that democracy has no one specific definition or practice, even though scholars and philosophers have been attempting to create a definition for generations. What is currently evident, is that scholars are not approaching democracy in an overly simplified manner (that is, it is government for the people, by the people) but, rather, are seeking the commonalities that democracies share, in other words, those items which are common to all things democratic. Following that specific line of investigation, the major ii practiced and theoretical versions of democracy were thematically analysed. After that, their themes were collapsed into larger categories, at which point the larger categories were comparatively analysed with the practiced and theoretical versions of democracy. Four democratic ‘particles’ (selecting officials, law, equality and communication) were seen to be present in all practiced and theoretical democratic styles. The democratic particles fused with a unique investigative perspective and in-depth political study created a solid conceptualisation of democracy. As such, it is argued that democracy is an ever-present element of any state government, ‘democratic’ or not, and the particles are the bodies which comprise the democratic element. Frequency- and proximity-based analyses showed that democratic particles are related to endemic problems in international democratisation discourse. The linkages between democratic particles and endemic problems were also evident during the thematic analysis as well historical review. This ultimately led to the viewpoint that if endemic problems are mitigated the act may improve democratic particles which might strengthen the element of democracy in the governing apparatus of any state. Such may actively minimise or wholly displace inefficient forms of government, leading to a government specifically tailored to the population it orders. Once the theoretical and empirical goals were attained, this thesis provided some prescriptive measures which government, civil society, academics, professionals and/or active citizens can use to mitigate endemic problems (in any country and at any level of government) so as to improve the human condition via better democratic government. iii List of Abbreviations APT ASEAN Plus Three ASEAN Association of South East Asian Nations BPOA Barbados Programme of Action CCD Council for a Community of Democracies CDT Centre for Democracy and Technology COHA Council of Hemispheric Affairs EU European Union GOPAC Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption ICJ International Court of Justice ICTs Information and Communication Technologies InfoDEV Information for Development Program IntIDEA International Institute for Democratic and Electoral Assistance IPU International Parliamentary Union IT Information Technology LDCs Least Developed Countries LIFE Local Initiative Facility for Urban Environment MDGs Millennium Development Goals MNO Multinational Organization NED National Endowment for Democracy NEPAD New Partnerships for Africa’s Development NGO Non Governmental Organization OAS Organization of American States ParlCent Parliament Centre SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany SSPs Small Scale Projects TI Transparency International UN United Nations UNDEF United Nations Democracy Fund UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNRISD United Nations Research Institute for Social Development WB World Bank WMD World Movement for Democracy iv Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to thank my mother and father (Celina and Pierre, respectively) for everything that you have worked so hard to achieve. It was ultimately your efforts that provided the opportunity for me to research this thesis. I love you both very much and thanks, Mom, for bravely defecting from communism, and Dad, for patiently putting up with the Air Force: these two journeys led you to each other and well, we know the rest. To my wonderful wife Tracey, thank you for your continuous encouragement and keen support. You’ve made these past years of hard work a sincere enjoyment. It is amazing that researching my PhD led to meeting you and I hope that one day you too will take this fantastic journey. To my wife’s family, your generosity and inclusion of me in your lives gave me a surrogate family: one that kept me from missing my nuclear family too greatly. Thank you for everything you have shared with me over the years, you are great people, each and everyone. To my brother Julian—thanks for adventurously stomping through the Borneo jungle with me! Without having found that massive satellite dish in Mulu National Park, I may have missed the deadline of accepting the offer to research my PhD with QUT’s School of Social Sciences in Australia. I would like to thank Professors Clive Bean and Gavin Kendall for your continual support, scrupulous natures and fun personalities. Without the two of you, my doctoral research would, no doubt, have been an interminable bore and a disastrous failure. Finally, to my colleagues Nicholas Osbaldiston, Christian Callisen, Geraldine Donoghue, Theresa Sauter, Gino Orticio, Mathew Ball, Lanka and Dan Butler-De Silva, and many others as well as our very special administrator Melody McIntosh: this could not have happened without you. Warmest regards and truthfully yours, Jean-Paul Gagnon v Table of Contents Declaration ......................................................................................................................... i Abstract ........................................................................................................................ ii List of Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... v Table of Contents............................................................................................................. vi Table of Figures ............................................................................................................... ix SECTION ONE ................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 1 : INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 1.1 Endemic Governance Problems ...................................................................... 2 1.2 Endemic Governance Problems and Democracy ............................................ 4 1.3 What is Democracy? ....................................................................................... 5 1.4 Sovereignty ................................................................................................... 10 1.5 The Element of Democracy ........................................................................... 13 1.6 A New Definition of Democracy .................................................................. 14 1.7 Challenges to Democracy .............................................................................. 15 1.8 Area of Research ........................................................................................... 22 1.9 Purpose of this Thesis ................................................................................... 23 1.10 Findings: Contributions to this Thesis .........................................................
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