Saturday, July 11, 2015

Wolfgang Merkel — Democracy’s Problem Is Not The Crisis But The Triumph Of Capitalism


Weekend reading.
In the long run, deregulated markets destroy themselves and the social cohesion of our society. The spirit of the European Union cannot be defined primarily in terms of its Competition Law. Nation-states must refuse to cede competencies to the EU as long as the latter has not established democratic standards comparable to those of its member states. That is not anti-European; it is pro-democratic. Financial markets must be subject to stringent controls. It is pointless to wait in the hope that the United States or Great Britain might go along eventually. We have to see what can be done on a national level and, if need be, on the European level.
Capitalism (economic liberalism) is incompatible with democracy (social and political liberalism).

Social Europe
Democracy’s Problem Is Not The Crisis But The Triumph Of Capitalism
Wolfgang Merkel | Professor of Comparative Political Science and Democracy Research at the Humboldt University Berlin, Associate of the Sydney Democracy Network, University of Sydney and Director of Research Unit Democracy: Structures, Performance, Challenges at Social Science Research Centre Berlin (WZB)

4 comments:

Dan Lynch said...

An engaging article, thanks for posting it.

Random said...

The name "Wolfgang Merkel" ???

Dan Lynch said...

I would only question his criticism of popular referendums.

It's true that in the U.S., referendums have been used more often than not to promote conservative issues. But why is that?

Conservatives seemed to grasp that referendums were a way to pass controversial laws and to get their base to turn out, and there are usually deep pockets funding the leg work that is required to get a conservative issue on the ballot.

Not so the left. I blame the Democratic party, which in my state has shown zero interest in referendums, preferring to focus instead on traditional electoral politics.

I believe that many populist laws would pass if they were on the ballot, it's just that there are not many populist organizations out there to do the leg work to put them on the ballot. The working class is neither organized nor funded.

Random said...

Right, direct democracy > representive democracy until FPTP with two parties.