Be careful how you gauge democracy

Nigel Pike rightly praises Anand Panyarachun’s definition of the essential principles of democracy, but then goes on to say that he is not enamoured of democracy. Make of that what you will!
Mr Pike also makes the point that Mr Anand was one of Thailand’s best prime ministers, even though he wasn’t elected. This train of thought does initially gain some traction from the unavoidable truth that the controversial Austrian politician Adolf Hitler was elected to power in Germany, and we all know how that ended.
However, upon further reflection, it will be realised that things began to go badly wrong in Germany after Herr Hitler replaced democracy with dictatorship. Not for a moment do I suggest that Mr Pike favours a similar style of government to that which replaced the “Weimar Republic”, indeed I have no idea what he envisages as a viable alternative to democracy, except that it must be administered by good people. However, in a non-democracy, the challenge would be to put good people in power (who would do that, and how?) to make sure they stay good, and to replace them when necessary with other good people. It’s no easy task.
The various forms of democracy currently established in western Europe are certainly experiencing testing times, but to suggest that they are facing a catastrophic failure which threatens to eradicate several millennia of European civilisation is, I would suggest, somewhat exaggerated. Indeed, European civilisation is a constantly changing concept, and is currently much different from even 50 years ago, never mind in 2000 BC. No, we will have to keep our nerve and stick with democracy, at least in those countries where it is well established, and encourage its development elsewhere. As a final thought, it is worth recalling Sir Winston Churchill’s observation: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the other forms that have been tried from time to time.” Bitter experience proves that he was right.
Robin Grant