Democracy a matter of principles, not "style"

Golf and the rules are controlled by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club (R&A), St Andrews, Scotland. The rules and the game are inseparable. Neither clubs nor members can make their own fundamental rules. Clubs may make local rules to cover local fauna, flora and unusual locations, but they must be within the framework of the R&A rules, which apply worldwide. This is true of all regulated organisations and sports: they are inextricably linked to their rules and regulations. The exception, it seems, is democracy.

Opinion abounds that democracy may be established with home-made rules. It is also claimed that there are many types of democracy, dependent on the country and the opinions of an electorate. Were this the case with golf, chaos would reign and the game would become a farce. Like the R&A rules, the principles of democracy have developed over centuries and they cannot be abandoned and reinvented. They work because they have stood the test of time.

Within a democracy, amendments can be enacted and, as with local golf rules, elected lawmakers can introduce laws appropriate to a country, but only within the fundamental rules and principles.

Golf must have its rules and democracy must have its own principles, otherwise golf would die and an intended democracy will result in a failed state. It is this state in which Thailand has floundered in very recent times (as it has done on several occasions before) due to home-made constitutions.

JC Wilcox