14 - 20 December 2000
Issue No.512
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 14 - 20 December 2000 Issue No.512 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Lessons in democracy
Preoccupied as we are with events far closer to home, the Arabs have failed to pay the US elections the attention they deserve, principally for the less obvious lessons they offer.
No one (not even George W Bush) would argue that Al Gore lost the "popular vote." Many who had only a vague idea of the US electoral system, however, were amazed to discover that this makes little difference. In the US -- birthplace of "Western democracy" -- the people do not have the final say, "by the people, for the people" notwithstanding.
Nor is this the only paradox in evidence: the electoral vote is also a swamp of contradictions. While it is understood that the electors will vote for the candidate who won the popular vote in their state, and some states require electors to do so through legal provisions or party pledges enforced by fines or disqualification, it is not clear whether these may actually be enforced. Confused yet? So, clearly, are the voters -- who obviously found the ballots a bit complicated as well.
Amidst the endless suits and counter-suits, rulings issued and overturned, it is easy to forget the fundamental point here: the electoral process has broken down. The fate of the US hangs by a chad. At last count, Gore and Bush each had 48 per cent of the vote. This means one thing -- that there is essentially no difference between the two. How democratic is a vote determined by a few hundred people?
And as this muddle lurches and groans toward its murky end, allegations of vote rigging are surfacing. Jeb Bush is the governor of Florida, and Florida is the epicentre of the current complications: this coincidence has escaped no one. Yet very little has been made of it. It would be facetious (if valid) to argue that this is a case of the pot calling the kettle corrupt -- but certainly, if a government presumes to set itself up as the global arbiter of transparency and good governance, it should make sure that its own record is (pardon the pun) unimpeachable. Perhaps the US should take a dose of its own medicine, and call in a team of UN observers. Only then will it be able to claim with any justification that it is qualified to stand in judgement on the way the rest of the international community runs its life.
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