October 2007
Issue No. 405
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Dumbing down democracy
Puzzled by democracy’s failed promise, Richard Swift explores the way our political culture infantilizes both the elected and the electorate.

Signs of infantilization
The tell-tale symptoms of a democratic ethos in distress.

Pushing your buttons – welcome to your second childhood
A visual guide to political manipulation.

Paternal deceits
The Indian scholar Ashis Nandy digs deep in the Western psyche to uncover the origins of our political condescension towards others.

Siren song – conspiracy!
The resistance to the status quo has not managed to escape the ravages of childish politics. Chip Berlet exposes the great conspiracy addiction.

Magical thinkers
Trevor Turner has his finger on how the fantasies of evasion trip up the political class.

Eleven ways to leave your Mummy and Daddy
Michael Bywater gives us some pointers.

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from
THIS MONTH'S EDITOR

Political life can sometimes give you flashes of democracy’s real potential. I recently had the opportunity to witness one of these. A couple of years back, the Government of the Province of Ontario (Canada’s most populated province), where I live, put together an assembly made up of interested citizens – one picked from each electoral riding – to explore whether the present first-past-the-post electoral system was the best we could do. After a year of deliberation and close study they decided ‘no’ – that the system was unfair in a number of ways. Instead, they propsed an electoral system that would give contending political parties the number of seats dictated by their percentage of votes. This would allow every citizen’s vote to count (not just those who voted for a winner in their particular riding) and also give smaller parties a better chance to win seats. The idea will now go to referendum. Whatever the result, the way these non-experts came to grips with the intricacies and implications of potential electoral models was truly impressive. So why can’t democracy always be like this?

I pondered. These people were treated in a repsectful way (like adults) and given the tools (both financial and intellectual) to do the job. This is a rarity in our political culture, where for the most part the political class and its various acolytes and retainers treat the citizenry like small children. They play on our childish fears and insecurities to replace reasoned debate with manœvring and manipulation. Sometimes we are taken in, but increasingly we are ‘turned off’. Either result suits their purpose – getting their own way and staying in power. Hence this issue on the rather arcane topic of ‘political infantilization’, in the hope of helping to start a discussion on how we are being condescended to – and making them stop. The stakes are high.

Richard Swift for the
New Internationalist Co-operative
rswift@web.ca

Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe

The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.

Raised Voices video:

Atossa Soltani from Brazil on the Climate Change

Desmond Desai from South Africa on Corporate Power

Iranian women speak out

3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.

Raised Voices audio:

Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power

Vinayan from India on agriculture