One of the foolish mistakes that many liberal democracies make is granting non-democratic parties political representation.
The most infamous group to get into power through democratic election were the Nazis. The Nazis frequently ridiculed the democratic process, yet the democratic Weimar government turned the other check. Even a cursory read through Mein Kampf, should have told them that Hitler has no place in a democratic government.
In 1917, Russia’s newly elected democratic government made a similar mistake when they failed to arrest the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks also publicly broadcast their totalitarian ambitions. Kerensky’s democratic government was particularly foolish because it had the backing of the army, which could have disarmed the Bolsheviks if it had been given approval to act quickly. Furthermore, it is unlikely that the Nazi’s would have been voted in if the German electorate hadn’t been threatened by the prospect of Russian backed communists.
Even today, western democracies still allow communist organisations to register as legimiate political parties. No doubt this is to validate the superiority of democracy and capitalism, but it also smacks of complacency, if not stupidity.
Some right-liberals argue that parties that promote the interests of particular ethnic groups should also be denied political representation. However, provided such parties abide by the democratic process, and don’t use violence or intimidation to achieve their ends, I don’t see why they shouldn’t be allowed to register.
Many left-liberals in Britain regard the British National Party as an extremist party that should be outlawed. The BNP may promote views that are extreme to liberal sensibilities but it does (at least at present) respect the democratic process. In fact, the BNP is probably the second most democratic party in Britain after the Liberal Democrats. This is because it is copying the Liberal Democrat strategy of campaigning on local issues through door knocking and telephone inquiries. In fact,the BNP probably has a better idea what ordinary people actually think that the Labour government.
If parties like the BNP are excluded from government then parties that represent non-white minorities will also have to be excluded. In New Zealand, the Maori Party, rightly or wrongly, promotes the interests of particular group, yet this doesn’t seem to concern left-liberals that attack white nationalists.
Democratic governments will always risk shooting themselves in the foot when they tolerate undemocratic parties of the right or the left.
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5 comments:
The 'irony' is that as a state becomes more ethnically diverse, the specter of squelch looms more heavily.
A homogenuous state can tolerate 'extremists' much better than a balkanized one can, unless there is no central authority to enforce omertas on extremist speech, in which case there is hardly a state at all.
If New Zealand is 5% Maori and 95% European, a Maori rights group might annoy those supporting merit over ethnicity, but the tension will be minimal. And a white separatist or supremacist group will be looked upon as hatefully on the fringe. But if New Zealand is split 50/50, these groups attract a much larger base of support, as politics becomes inextricably tied to race.
Good points.
I prefer controlloing 'ethnic rights' parties by controlling immigration, rather than through government regulation.
In countries that are already very multicultural, and which have no dominant ethnic group, it becomes essentail to deny 'ethnic rights' parties political representation.
I guess parties like the BNP can serve a useful role as protest parties although I wouldn't like to see such parties in government.
You could also say Maori made a mistake letting so many non-Maori immigrants into their country.
Ditto anon's comment regarding Native Americans (the ones we call Indians): Immigration (or more accurately, settlement) didn't bode too well for them. I'm not optimistic that it bodes well for the US or New Zealand today.
Of course it doesnt bother left-libs. They only have to check their diversity poker hand to see that any party representing non-white interests must always outrank one representing white interests.
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