GOVERNNCE
A Democracy That Works
Western democracies have failed to address people’s livelihood concerns while the Chinese practice has made notable achievements
By Charles Onunaiju  

5 May 2024
More than 200 scholars, researchers, former government officials and party leaders from over 50 countries gathered in the sprawling building of the Chinese Academy of History in Beijing on 20 March for the third International Forum on Democracy: The Shared Human Values. The forum debated the concept of democracy, its trajectories and prospects, and, more importantly, how it can be made to work and deliver tangible results for different countries.

A key takeaway is that though democracy is a shared human value, its practice must incorporate considerable local content, absorbing the accumulated wisdom and experience of a particular country based on its unique national condition. The local content must be integrated into the generalised and universal principles of democracy to make it really work beyond the simplistic rhetoric and slogans. 

To this extent, the forum agreed that the democratic construction is never a walk in the park and never a package to be lifted off any shelf. Former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema lamented the hollowing out of democracy in developed Western countries, which he noted was drifting away from the principle of “one person one vote” to “one dollar one vote.” 

READ ALSO: The Shifting Paradigm of Democracy

Implicit in the democratic process is a key factor of learning and adaptation with particular focus on improving the institutions and processes to align with evolving realities. No mechanism or institution is perfect at all times. The mounting social tensions in democracies of the West, featuring large-scale protests by workers, farmers, and professional groups, is evidence of democratic stagnation. 

Rhetoric vs. reality 

Late last year, for the first time in the UK’s history, consulting medical doctors went on strike to protest declining conditions of service and a general decline in health care delivery. In a number of European countries, far right and extremist political parties, capitalising on social tensions and paralysis, are positioning themselves as more trustworthy than mainstream parties.  

Across Europe and more particularly in the UK, there has been considerable decline in party membership, a well-regarded factor in measuring democratic participation. Current data put the membership of the UK’s ruling Conservative Party at 172,437, while the Labour Party has a total membership of 399,195. The Liberal Democrats counts only a little over 90,000 British as their members. This means that of nearly 70 million British population, less than 1 million people, or under 1 percent, are in effective political participation. 

If one takes into account the fact that the leader of the party elected at a party conference of less than 1 percent of the British population will become prime minister after winning a parliamentary seat to represent one constituency, the point of democratic recession or stagnation becomes crystal clear. With party membership and participation clearly on a steep decline from their peak in the 1960s, 1970s and even 1980s, contemporary leaders of the UK and most of their counterparts in Europe are seeking to renew and recharge their democratic processes, choosing to weaponise democracy for ideological confrontations and political goals. 

The forum, whose attendees included political heavyweights like former prime ministers of Thailand, Greece and Egypt, and a former governor of Tokyo, warned that democracy should not be held hostage to the goal of power projection. Such weaponisation of democracy undermines its essence. 

A democracy that works must serve practical needs of the people. No democracy would be worth its name if it fails to give any meaningful response to the issues which people are generally concerned about. And for a democracy to remain relevant, its institutions and processes must address the questions and formulate policies that meet the broad expectations of people. 

African delegates to the forum lamented that democracy in the continent has been considerably handicapped by institutional dysfunction and extant formalism. Democracy in Africa has failed to adequately respond to the needs of people. Existential issues of reducing or alleviating poverty and soaring youth unemployment have not been fully attended to. Substantive participation in supervision of governments beyond the rudiments of merely thumbing the ballots is yet to be accomplished. For the democracy to be functional, it must deal with the realities which people live in. That would require responding to the practical questions that matter to the people.  

Chinese practice  

The forum praised China for taking democracy beyond rhetoric and using it as a fundamental framework which not only defines its political organisation, but also provides the means of livelihood, without which democracy is meaningless. By delivering moderate prosperity to its population, and continuing on the journey to improve people’s lives, China demonstrates the strength of its uniqueness.  

In his keynote speech to the forum, Li Shulei, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, said that democracy stands as a crucial symbol of the advancement of human civilisation and that the CPC has led the Chinese people to embark on a democratic development path with Chinese characteristics. 

Li further emphasised that during the annual meetings of China’s top legislative and political advisory bodies, commonly known as Two Sessions, deputies and members made proposals and suggestions covering various aspects of economic and social development, representing the voices of the people from all walks of life. Li noted that the proposals will be carefully considered and integrated into the policy-making process. 

Li further stated that democracy is a common value for all humanity aiming to safeguard and enhance global consensus, and that democracy should not be used as a tool by certain countries to serve their own political purposes. He emphasised that some countries are interfering in the future of other countries under the guise of promoting “democracy and freedom” which goes against the spirit of democracy. 

“China fully respects the right of people in all countries to independently choose their own development path, and is against countries creating divisions and spreading prejudices in the international community under the guise of democracy. China is always ready to work with other countries to build international relations based on mutual respect and win-win cooperation,” Li added.  

Ong Tee Keat, former deputy speaker of the Lower House of Malaysia’s Parliament, noted that “China supports the diversity of democratic practices and sees the connection between the realisation of people’s wishes and the level of social development that can support the wishes,” adding that this is especially vital for countries previously colonised by Western powers as they need to prioritise the basic survival needs of their own people. 

Further articulating the critical fundamentals of a democracy that works, the forum argued that important questions of material well-being of the people should be of principal concern if democracy is to deepen, expand, and flourish. 

As a major country, China takes its responsibility very seriously as it continually offers platforms to engage with contemporary issues relevant to the human prospects, and in hosting an international dialogue, it is offering a venue to examine emerging realities, and invent new tools for advancing human prospects.  

The author is Director of Centre for China Studies, Abuja, Nigeria