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Paddling Pools for Democracy

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Paddling Pools for Democracy Paddling Pools for democracy A prefigurative approach to Tronto’s caring democracy Master thesis by | Bas van Raay Supervisor | Amanda Cawston Second Reader | Catherine Robb Keywords | Democracy, Ideology, Tronto, Prefiguration Wordcount | 14798 words (excluding references) Student number | 2016566 Institute | Tilburg University Program | Philosophy of Contemporary Challenges Date | 14-06-2020 Page intentionally left blank 2 Abstract In this thesis I will argue that the ideological role of democracy is an oppressive role that informs the current democratic deficit in Western democracies. I will draw on Tronto's (2013) analysis of the democratic deficit and take her analysis a step further. As I take Tronto's analysis a step further, I will not look at statistics or democratic theories, but at real world democracy. I will use an ideology critique as a method to dismantle the ideological role of democracy, and as I look behind the veil of democracy, I will unmask democratic ideology as an instrument to oppress people. Moreover, I will argue that ideologies do not function by themselves, and in this case, I will describe how democratic ideology is at the service of neoliberal ideology. I will argue that democratic ideology serves the interests of neoliberal ideology, in order for neoliberal ideology to survive and remain as it is, because I assume that people would never accept a society that operates solely on neoliberal ideological convictions, such as a corpocracy. As long as people believe they live in a democracy, they will not ask questions. Tronto proposes to realize a democracy that is driven by care values rather than economic values as democracy is driven today, by limiting and controlling the free market. I suggest taking a prefigurative approach to Tronto’s (2013) ‘caring democracy’ which I call ‘paddling pools for democracy’. These paddling pools for democracy are small learning zones where oppressive ideologies cannot influence the learning process. I will argue that the people who join to practice their democratic skills in the paddling pools for democracy will be the ones who will build our future care driven democracies. 3 Table of Contents Abstract 3 Introduction 6 How democracy deals with corona 6 A pursuit of a caring democracy 6 Is limitation and control of market logic enough? 6 Scope and methodology 7 Thesis roadmap 7 Chapter 1 | The current state of democracy 10 1.1 Roadmap chapter 1 10 1.2 Three existing starting points 10 Departing from democratic statistics 10 Departing from democratic theory 11 Departing from democratic functioning 11 What do these three existing starting points have in common? 11 1.3 Introducing a fourth starting point 12 One step back, one step forward 12 Chapter 2 | The misleading idea of neoliberal individuation 14 2.1 Roadmap chapter two 14 2.2 Tronto’s critique on neoliberal individuation 14 A distorted view of human nature 14 The claim that the free market is neutral 15 The myth of personal responsibility 16 2.3 A confusion about individuation 17 Chapter 3 | Democratic individuation 19 3.1 Roadmap chapter three 19 3.2 Democratic caring and Caring democracy 19 3.3 Questioning democracy 19 Building on three points 20 4 The infusion of democratic thinking 21 Continuation 21 Chapter 4 | The ideological role of democracy 23 4.1 Roadmap chapter four 23 4.2 Ideology 23 4.3 Addressed as consumer 24 People as citizens 24 People as citizens and consumers 25 People as consumers 25 4.4 The illusion of participation 26 Democracy: a competition for voters 26 The ideal participatory democracy 26 The announcement of a participatory society in the Netherlands 27 Democratic ideology in practice 27 4.5 A dual ideology 29 Chapter 5 | Paddling pools for democracy 30 5.1 Roadmap chapter five 30 5.2 Prefigurative politics 30 5.3 What are paddling pools? 31 The conditions for preparing an environment 31 The tenets of a paddling pool for democracy 32 The surprise factor 32 How does this lead to a caring democracy? 32 Conclusion 34 Bibliography 36 5 Introduction How democracy deals with corona I argue that we can see a democratic deficit when we look at how democratic governments are dealing with the corona pandemic. The democratic deficit refers to how democratic institutions fail to function properly and don’t reflect the ideals and values of the people (Letki, 2013). Three things stand out. First is the way decisions are being made by democratic governments concerning the corona crisis. Second are the ungrounded measures that are being taken and third is the reliance on market over care. If we look at the first thing that stands out, we see that decisions concerning the corona crisis are made from the top down. The people are left out of the debate and the experts at the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment rule the show. This leads me to the second thing that stands out which is a result of top down decision making. Top- down decision-making in the corona crisis has led to 'social distancing' measures that do not reflect the ideals and values of the people. The Dutch Prime Minister for example, announced on the 9th of April 2020 that people should prepare themselves to “think about what he calls ‘the new normal’: a society in which 1.5 metres of distance remains the norm for the time being.” (Nu, 2020). As a reaction to ‘the new normal’, which has been a one-way decision, people massively posted short videos on social media in which they reenacted everyday life situations in a socially distanced society in order to show the absurdity of these social distancing measures. The third thing that stands out is the reliance on market over care. If we look at the care deficit, many people are being told to stay at home, not for their own protection, but to disguise the shortage of care workers who have to deal with this immense pressure on the care sector. This is where the market has failed but when it comes to solutions, people still rely on a democracy driven by market values to come up with all the answers to the corona crisis, whether it’s creating a vaccine, disposable face masks or a respirator for intensive care. The solutions are all motivated by the pursuit of profit, instead of reducing the care deficit. A pursuit of a caring democracy Joan Tronto (2013) describes current democracy as a ‘democratic deficit’ as well. But Tronto does not stop here with her analysis, and from the perspective of a feministic ethic of care she relates the ‘democratic deficit’ to the current ‘care deficit’. For Tronto both the democratic deficit and care deficit are two sides of the same coin and “neoliberalism has minted this coin of the realm” (pp. 37). Tronto’s (2013) critique of neoliberalism grounds her alternative vision of democracy driven by care values, rather than the market values that drive existing democracies. In Tronto’s (2013) vision of a ‘caring democracy’, “caring should become more democratic” and “democracy should become more caring” (pp. 18). Is limitation and control of market logic enough? Tronto’s (2013) proposed alternative is to limit and control market logic, and to not see market logic as “the only possible model for reasoning” (pp. 121). To limit and control market logic would be an important “part of what democratic political institutions should do” (Tronto, 2013, pp. 121). I agree with Tronto’s analysis of the democratic deficit and her critique of the dominant role of market logic in democratic relations and care, however, 6 Tronto’s analysis shows a dedication to democracy which she leaves unquestioned and as a consequence limits the depth of her critique. I argue that leaving democracy unquestioned causes problems when one wants to realize a vision of a democracy driven by care values. I argue this because one would expect that the corona crisis; a care crisis of this magnitude would lead to an awareness and a shift in political will, but it did not happen because it left democracy unquestioned. I propose to build on Tronto’s analysis and suggest a more thorough critique of the relationship between democracy and the market, and in so doing, provide grounds for an alternative route to change. In this thesis, I will argue that the realization of a democracy driven by care values will need us not only to limit and control market logic but also question the ideological role of democracy itself. In particular a crises situation like the corona pandemic reveals the oppressive ideological role of democracy if you ask yourself the following question: ‘during the corona crisis, has any measure been consulted with the people? The answer is no. This answer leads me to my main research question, which is: ‘how to describe the ideological role of democracy, and how does understanding this role help us think about how to realize a democracy that is driven by care values as Tronto proposes?’ Scope and methodology In describing the ideological role of democracy my research will focus on Western European democracies with Dutch democracy in particular. I will largely focus on the Dutch context as it is today, and not as democracy has developed in time and space. My analysis of the current state of democracy in the Netherlands could also be applied to other democracies, although there may be nuance differences. The analysis of the current state of democracy is done in various ways and also leads to different interpretations of the current state of democracy. I detect three different starting points to analyze the current state of democracy which depart from: 1) democratic statistics, 2) democratic theory and 3) democratic functioning.
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