MOLÓN SAN
Madmaxista
The strangling of European democracy
The term ‘representative democracy’ does not capture the nature of the system of governance that has evolved across most of Europe over the past century. A more accurate term would be ‘constrained democracy’. This term captures well how the public and sometimes even parliamentarians are kept at a distance from decision-making.
Of course, as the Brexit vote showed, a large section of the British public has come to recognise that the EU acts as an important constraint on democracy. But the story of constrained democracy is more complicated and long-running than many realise. For example, the way in which ‘independent’ central banks curb democratic accountability is rarely examined. They are seen as part of an economic story rather than a political one. Yet their ‘independence’ means precisely that powerful economic institutions are shielded from democratic control. This applies at a national level (think of the Bank of England), and even more so at a supra-national level, with the European Central Bank (ECB).
Paul Tucker, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, is one of the few to raise concerns over central banks’ independence. In Unelected Power (2018), he shows how central banks have become a huge part of what he calls the administrative state. They can even be viewed as a fourth branch of government, after the legislature, executive and judiciary. The problems this poses are manifold: decisions on economic values and objectives are delegated to an unaccountable body; debate is restricted to an in-crowd; and the electorate finds it difficult to register discontent in elections (1).
So, while the EU might well be the apogee of constrained democracy, constrained democracy has many facets. Moreover, the model of constrained democracy existed on a national level before the EU was created. Indeed, the EU can be seen as the grotesque extension of a flawed system that was first developed within nation states after the First World War. For instance, the model of independent central banking was pioneered in Germany before being tras*posed to the EU much later on. Still fewer realise that the key role of constitutional courts – bodies that can in many cases override democratically elected parliaments – dates back to Austria in 1920.
Admittedly, Britain has its own indigenous system of checks and balances designed to curb democratic power. The monarchy and the House of Lords act to restrict the power of the elected House of Commons. But Britain’s membership of the EU has grafted on additional ways of breaking the link between the public and political institutions. This is a point that could also be justly made about the adoption of human rights in Europe – a movement which in many respects parallels the rise of the EU, although it is technically distinct.
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In this essay, I will focus on some of the lesser known elements of the phenomenon of constrained democracy, beginning with its emergence in the maelstrom ***owing the First World War.
The retreat from empire
In the aftermath of the First World War, old empires collapsed, new nations emerged, and a revolutionary surge gripped large parts of the world. In retrospect, it can also be seen as the birthplace for key elements of constrained democracy.
No fewer than four empires disappeared at the war’s end: the Russian, Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and German. Although they were all different, they did share several antiestéticatures. They were authoritarian institutions, led by monarchs and associated nobility, with little or no scope for public involvement in politics; and they were also multinational institutions in which many different nations were subsumed under the rule of a larger empire.
The massive dislocation caused by the war changed the political face of Europe. It swept away the old monarchs and opened the way for the creation of republics and the mass participation of the public in politics. It also created the conditions for the emergence of many more nation states, including Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania. Although the forms of some of these nation states changed subsequently, they were central to the realisation of national self-determination in Europe.
PODCAST
Weed, cigarettes and Irn-Bru, with Julia Hartley-Brewer
SPIKED
It was a time, as Frank Furedi argues in First World War: Still No End In Sight (2014), when Western societies faced a key question — ‘how to maintain order – in war and peace – when it required the consent of the masses’ (2). The masses had become politically conscious on a large scale. The challenge facing the elites was how to maintain legitimacy in a situation where the old order had collapsed.
In 1917, the Russian Empire was the first of the great empires to go. Although the focus of this essay is not Russia, it is important to recognise that the October Revolution inspired a radical upsurge in Europe, from the Munich Soviet Republic to the Hungarian Soviet Republic, which were both brutally put down in 1919.
These and other outbreaks of militancy across Europe provided a backdrop to the emergence of constrained democracy. Ruling elites across Europe felt under enormous pressure from an ascendant working class. Europe’s rulers were not averse to using extreme physical violence to curb this militancy. However, on its own physical force was not enough. The European elite was under intense pressure to make reforms – including widening the franchise and granting a greater role for parliaments – while at the same time looking for ways to constrain the popular will.
The term ‘representative democracy’ does not capture the nature of the system of governance that has evolved across most of Europe over the past century. A more accurate term would be ‘constrained democracy’. This term captures well how the public and sometimes even parliamentarians are kept at a distance from decision-making.
Of course, as the Brexit vote showed, a large section of the British public has come to recognise that the EU acts as an important constraint on democracy. But the story of constrained democracy is more complicated and long-running than many realise. For example, the way in which ‘independent’ central banks curb democratic accountability is rarely examined. They are seen as part of an economic story rather than a political one. Yet their ‘independence’ means precisely that powerful economic institutions are shielded from democratic control. This applies at a national level (think of the Bank of England), and even more so at a supra-national level, with the European Central Bank (ECB).
Paul Tucker, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, is one of the few to raise concerns over central banks’ independence. In Unelected Power (2018), he shows how central banks have become a huge part of what he calls the administrative state. They can even be viewed as a fourth branch of government, after the legislature, executive and judiciary. The problems this poses are manifold: decisions on economic values and objectives are delegated to an unaccountable body; debate is restricted to an in-crowd; and the electorate finds it difficult to register discontent in elections (1).
So, while the EU might well be the apogee of constrained democracy, constrained democracy has many facets. Moreover, the model of constrained democracy existed on a national level before the EU was created. Indeed, the EU can be seen as the grotesque extension of a flawed system that was first developed within nation states after the First World War. For instance, the model of independent central banking was pioneered in Germany before being tras*posed to the EU much later on. Still fewer realise that the key role of constitutional courts – bodies that can in many cases override democratically elected parliaments – dates back to Austria in 1920.
Admittedly, Britain has its own indigenous system of checks and balances designed to curb democratic power. The monarchy and the House of Lords act to restrict the power of the elected House of Commons. But Britain’s membership of the EU has grafted on additional ways of breaking the link between the public and political institutions. This is a point that could also be justly made about the adoption of human rights in Europe – a movement which in many respects parallels the rise of the EU, although it is technically distinct.
VIDEO
‘The green movement has become hysterical’
SPIKED
In this essay, I will focus on some of the lesser known elements of the phenomenon of constrained democracy, beginning with its emergence in the maelstrom ***owing the First World War.
The retreat from empire
In the aftermath of the First World War, old empires collapsed, new nations emerged, and a revolutionary surge gripped large parts of the world. In retrospect, it can also be seen as the birthplace for key elements of constrained democracy.
No fewer than four empires disappeared at the war’s end: the Russian, Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and German. Although they were all different, they did share several antiestéticatures. They were authoritarian institutions, led by monarchs and associated nobility, with little or no scope for public involvement in politics; and they were also multinational institutions in which many different nations were subsumed under the rule of a larger empire.
The massive dislocation caused by the war changed the political face of Europe. It swept away the old monarchs and opened the way for the creation of republics and the mass participation of the public in politics. It also created the conditions for the emergence of many more nation states, including Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania. Although the forms of some of these nation states changed subsequently, they were central to the realisation of national self-determination in Europe.
PODCAST
Weed, cigarettes and Irn-Bru, with Julia Hartley-Brewer
SPIKED
It was a time, as Frank Furedi argues in First World War: Still No End In Sight (2014), when Western societies faced a key question — ‘how to maintain order – in war and peace – when it required the consent of the masses’ (2). The masses had become politically conscious on a large scale. The challenge facing the elites was how to maintain legitimacy in a situation where the old order had collapsed.
In 1917, the Russian Empire was the first of the great empires to go. Although the focus of this essay is not Russia, it is important to recognise that the October Revolution inspired a radical upsurge in Europe, from the Munich Soviet Republic to the Hungarian Soviet Republic, which were both brutally put down in 1919.
These and other outbreaks of militancy across Europe provided a backdrop to the emergence of constrained democracy. Ruling elites across Europe felt under enormous pressure from an ascendant working class. Europe’s rulers were not averse to using extreme physical violence to curb this militancy. However, on its own physical force was not enough. The European elite was under intense pressure to make reforms – including widening the franchise and granting a greater role for parliaments – while at the same time looking for ways to constrain the popular will.
