Milena Velba On Motor Cycle

Democracy and national unity Untimely Thoughts

Do not confuse the spirit of conciliation with the absence of criticism: the first is desirable while the second disastrous for democracy.

The term "democracy" is the most important toiled Science contemporary politics. In the early nineties, consolidated the global democratic aspirations with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the expansion of the "third wave of democratization", no one seemed to contest its promising future. An important author, Francis Fukuyama, exuded optimism that, which led him to postulate, in a famous book, 'The end of history' as the result of a global consensus around liberal democracy and capitalism as optimal models political and economic development.

However, at least in the political, contradicts the current balance all odds. The final report FreedomHouse , the body responsible for measuring the overall levels of democracy, shows that today only 60 percent of the world's countries are democracies and a good part of this percentage are democracies "front" government hiding despotic.

In the classification made FreedomHouse , are three ranges for the countries: free, partly free and not free. As expected, Colombia remains stagnant within states "partly free" since it was first illustrated with maps measurement in 2002. Why?

Because the indicators of modern democracy are not limited to the fact electoral majority. The concept of democracy is complex and includes, besides conducting regular and peaceful elections to elect representatives for a limited time, other requirements refer not only to political rights but also civil liberties, limits on the power chosen by the majority and respect for minorities.

Without claim of completeness, a country that today democratic seriously say must meet at least the following conditions: respect for the principle of alternation in power, so as to limit their exercise time by a single party or person; separation and balance of public powers, guaranteed by system of constitutional checks and balances designed to prevent concentration, freedom of press to promote the production of unbiased information to neutralize the media manipulation that spontaneously tend to the establishment, its sponsors economic and market logic of the mass media communication, and especially the right of opposition and criticism.

The opposition is essential to democracy because it is not legitimate consensus can be built in an atmosphere of unanimity, where all political actors merge into one party and who exercises no criticism. "May the power control power, "Montesquieu's fundamental currency, its implementation is the existence of opposing forces between the owners.

If anything characterizes democracy as a superior form of government is to open channels for peaceful expression of dissent and nonconformity. It is what allows you better ensure that any other structure of government substantial levels of participation, freedom and pluralism to democratic actors can express, significantly, their opinions and preferences. The essence of democracy is not to eliminate the contradiction or conflict but transmute into agreements and consensus are built precisely from dissent.

The issue of opposition is crucial in the middle of the proposed National Unity, so fashionable these days in the country but of Hispanic descent. The famous "drive" around the winner of the day is as old as politics itself. "But if are the same dogs with different collars, "was the phrase uttered by Ferdinand VII when he discovered, to regain the throne three years after the liberal revolution of 1820, which volunteer soldiers now" realists "who supported him were the same ones that formed the revolutionary militias was revolted. Subsequently, the Moncloa Pacts facilitated the union of the main political parties that allowed him to Spain to make the transition to peaceful democracy after the fall of Franco. So the national unity pact in the main European benchmark, support a historical evaluation both negative and positive.

addition, proposals have a familiar unanimity in our own political history from the National Front (1958-1974), whose balance is also ambivalent: This agreement has served to slow the bloodshed bipartisan flooding into the country for the period but also to institutionalize exclusion, eliminating minorities from the political scene for over three decades.

In the latest issue of Foreign Policy is a list of the worst tyrants of the world ( The Worst of the Worst , the title of the article by George Ayittey). There are 23 dictators including Hugo Chávez, to quote the only Latin American example of the list, is ranked 18. Interestingly, the hallmark of all these national heroes that are installed in power indefinitely is that (when not appeal to torture and genocide) spy or, otherwise, they manage to neutralize or to deal definitively with the opposition.

is too early to know how the proposal will result in particular of the new national unity government in terms of independence from other political forces. The most pessimistic forecasts point to the creation of a dominant party regime of the old-style Mexican PRI. However, this view is exaggerated for the real scope of the pact will depend on management to give the "unity" as well who calls who answer the call.

Do not confuse the spirit of conciliation with the absence of criticism: the first is desirable while the second disastrous for democracy. Petro's approach to begin talks with the new government program and the path chosen by the Green Party of "deliberative independence" are examples of democratic maturity rather than political opportunism. Both support a positive reading at the moment as signs of the beginning of a constructive dialogue is healthy for the political system.

is to remember that the March 26 Colombia escaped a 12-year government continued the same man (who would have been the longest democratic history of the country) due to a failure historic Constitutional Court safeguarded the principle of alternation of power and saved democracy.

The incoming government has so far given several samples to be plausibly different outgoing respectful of the independence of the judiciary, technocratic rather than patronage in the appointment of senior officials, conciliatory rather than arson against their rivals. At least with regard to form, the style of government that begins to unfold Juan Manuel Santos congratulations invalidate the hypothesis of continuity.

WEEK column published on line:

http://www.semana.com/noticias-opinion-on-line / democracia-unidad-nacional/141505.aspx

Ali Velshi Not Married

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Explore a tone, find a voice, forging a style. The steps of the writer.

Zinc Electroplating Diy

Green's defeat, the triumph orange

Who we support the Green Party candidate we vote in a runoff for our candidate, knowing that after the enormous strategic blunders (especially political marketing) that led to the disastrous result of the first, was unlikely to overcome the wide gap reached its winner. And, as expected, we lost at the polls. We were three and a half million Colombians but we were far from being the majority. Why?

Because elections are not won with good intentions, even with good ideas or the best programs, but with votes. And Santos won the most votes that, in contemporary democracies, are obtained primarily with machinery and an effective media management were the real "locomotives" of his campaign, especially betting on success exploit the good image of Uribe, the confidence inspired by his government on security and, of course, the skill of the candidate to capitalize on their advantage, these two ingredients.

far so good, and legitimate. But the sum of several other negative factors and illegitimate (if not illegal) already publicly known and reported ad nauseum in the media, also contributed to the defeat of the currency option. First, to put it in terms of Habermas, the pollution of "public space" of communication with junk information facilitated by the Santos campaign: even he insists on denying it, not hire gurus like JJ Rendón, Jack Leslie, James Carville and Ravi Singh to lay hold candles to the Virgin. This strategy was further enhanced by the green inexperience to react vigorously and promptly (no later than the first round, when the damage had been done) against the electoral dirty war. And second illegal intervention policy of the President in favor of those anointed as his successor, added to the abuse of the welfare of his government machinery to favor Santos, was demonstrated statistically by the Global Exchange research the correlation between their most votes in respect average and the municipalities where subsidies are concentrated in Acció Family n.

On the side of the vanquished also missed the limits and errors. In order of importance: lack of equipment as the Green is a young party that is just building their structures, the inability to crystallize alliances without compromising the integrity of the party or favoring personal enmities, the deficiencies in the management of resources and, as they say in tennis, "unforced errors" or "own goals", as stated by the candidate, who was trapped several times in the debates, which prevented him from tune with the electorate more humble, paradoxically it was sad that his proposal sought help as a priority.

However, in the midst of the electoral defeat several victories that can truly celebrate. Mockus and Fajardo these elections gave ethical status unprecedented in the history of Colombia for the first time two honest intellectual (rather than professional politicians Manzanillo, with the advantages and disadvantages involved) were a real choice of presidential power , based not on patronage but on the traditional vote of opinion in favor of a revolutionary culture of legality and fight against corruption.

The question now is what to expect from the president of Santos. Its proposed "Government of National Unity" disconcerting, to say the least, because it is ambivalent. Could be construed as uncritical unanimity project that aims to crown the impunity and unbridled corruption that leaves the government of Uribe, eliminating the possibility of rectification of the failed policies and opposition (a necessary condition of any mature democracy) in a kind of chauvinism that suggests with concern in Albert Camus famously said: "I love my country too much to be nationalist."

But it also opens the possibility of a move away from legacy Uribe on the negative side, which is grand: violation of human rights by security policy focused on results and not very demanding with respect the law, tolerance of corruption by top officials, attacks on the independence of the judiciary, high unemployment, collapse of social security system and, most alarming: the plight of four million displaced by the violence that the outgoing government seemed not to exist.

Several

million peasants begging at traffic lights in cities are a shame that the country can not continue to tolerate. The main challenge for Santos in the social field will ensure that gains made in the field of conflict through the demobilization of paramilitaries and the guerrilla siege will translate well in the quiet visit to the farm for urban homeowners in the recovery plots for our farmers and boosting productivity.

The letter of support from the new President César Gaviria points to deselect when hypotheses emphasizes the need to correct the gross errors committed by the outgoing government and listening to the feeling of dissatisfaction with the corruption that is the green wave. This support, though qualified by Uribe's opportunistic (and is) can be interpreted as the opening in the emerging "Most Holy" a first path to an identity marked by new paths.

Santos While the response to the "unjustified" repairs Gaviria's letter and his statement in the penultimate televised debate that he was incapable of criticizing the administration of Alvaro Uribe suggest an unconditional continuity can also be read as the product of convenience elections. Under his leadership Juan Manuel Santos Uribe will show if it is a blind, as it did before winning the presidency, or is willing to correct the mistakes of his predecessor, who are not few. While indiscriminate amount of support collected on the road for his campaign points to the first, its historic ambition known as a statesman, based on his enormous capacity for management, suggests the latter.