Sovereign people
Sir: The controversy in the pages of The Spectator about the question whether Bri- tain is a democracy or not suffers, in my view, from a great deal of terminological confusion. Granted that there is no 'au- thoritative' essentialist definition of demo- cracy it appears clear on historical evidence that the safeguardship of individual rights against repression is prior to and indepen- dent of the democratic claim to 'popular sovereignty', the right of 'the people' to live under laws it has given itself directly or through elected and accountable repre- sentatives. The individual 'liberal' compo- nent must be distinguished from the collec- tivist or `majoritarian' component. In all democracies we know the two are con- nected with each other, although always in a state of tension as to when the rights of the majority (or its representatives) be- come 'tyrannical' vis a vis the rights of minorities or individuals.
Great Britain, like all other Western democracies, is a 'liberal democratic sys- tem' which combines both dimensions; though, through its lack of a Bill of Rights guaranteed by a written constitution and a constitutional court against majoritarian invasion, its liberal component depends 'Have you got Who's Who?' primarily on the tolerance, self restraint and regard for individual liberties on the part of the temporary majority controlling parliamentary legislation. Thus Britain is more democratic — in the sense of un- checked majority power — than, e.g. the United States, though individual liberties are at greater risk.
As Rousseau said in his Contrat Social: 'it is the volonte general [the "sovereign people"' which decides which rights are essential for the common good'. And in a democracy it is 'the people' (de facto the majority) which decides wherein the com- mon good consists. The strengthening of individual rights may be necessary against 'tyrannical' majorities, but it is not in itself a 'left' or 'democratic' goal, but a liberal one.
Kurt L. Shell
Center for North American Studies and Research, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitat, Freiherr-vom-Stein-Strafie 24-26 D-6000 Frankfurt am Main 1, Germany
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