Project Syndicate publishes GPPi op-ed on recreating democracy in a global age

GPPi Director Wolfgang Reinicke has written a commentary, titled Purpose Beyond Power and published June 14, for the online magazine Project Syndicate.

In his commentary, Reinicke writes that the re-run of the Greek parliamentary election on June 17 is only the latest symptom of the most serious crisis to plague Western democracies and open societies since the 1960’s. Liberal democracies in the West today are struggling to avoid – and in doing so are exacerbating – a crisis of identity, which puts the existing social contract at risk and threatens their implosion.

According to Reinicke, at the root of the European crisis (and its equivalent crisis in the United States) is a shift in the configuration of economic, social, and political power. Liberal democracies and open societies have traditionally relied on a fine balance of these three forms of power. Over the last two decades, our elites have been unable to maintain it, as economic power has long since gone global and dislodged itself from political power, often corrupting democratic politics in the process.

Reinicke argues that the refusal of today’s elites to promote an effective balance of the three powers – to recognize a larger purpose beyond maximizing each individual power – has visibly translated into a waning regard for the public good. This has dramatic consequences for liberal democracy and open societies. With political power diminished (and sometimes usurped) by the transformation of its economic counterpart, and its detachment from its social base rendering it increasingly illegitimate, this is the hour of populists and extremists. We now see them feast on enfeebled democracies in many European countries, as fringe movements become serious contenders for power and threaten to wipe out the achievements of more than 60 years of European integration. In the US, the political system has descended into seemingly intractable partisan paralysis, gravely undermining the system of checks and balances and generating a deepening sense of malaise and frustration.

We stand at a critical juncture, writes Reinicke. Recreating democracy and open societies in a global age requires investment in new ideas to rebalance political, economic, and social power at both the national and the global level. Nationally, we need to experiment with new mechanisms for policymaking and implementation, reconnecting democratic institutions to citizens and emerging networks of civil society. Globally, we must allow political and social power to establish their rightful place next to economic power.

A German version of the commentary is available at Welt Online. A French version can be found at the website of Les Échos.