Democracy: the end of history?

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• Middelbare school
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• Leerjaar 5

Term 2: democracy & rule of law

Rule of law

= a state in which every citizen, including rulers, are subject to the law. This protects citizens against arbitrary actions and misuse of power by state authorities.

Strongly connected to democracy! 
 

Has the world become more democratic or less democratic during the past decade?

1. More democratic
2. Less democratic

Democracy: the end of history?

Democratic and authoritarian practices:

 

a new way of thinking about democracy

Poland & Hungary

freedomhouse.org

Wat are 3 authoritarian practices and 3 democratic practices present in Hungarian politics?

Statement: Poland and Hungary should be banned from the European Union as long as they don't respect the rule of law.

Research questions

• Explain that the three pillars of the rule of law (trias politica, legality principle and fundamental rights) were not respected
• How can you see the tension between protecting fundamental rights and enforcing the law in this case?
• How does ethnic profiling and class justice become visible in this case? 

Lesson objectives

• You can distinguish democratic practices from authoritarian practices in a given political system
  
• You can compare democratic systems based on how they solve the effectiveness versus participation dilemma

The democratic dilemma 

System effectiveness versus citizen participation

Choice 1

Direct democracy or representative democracy?

Choice 2

Presidential or parliamentary system? 

Choice 3

Proportional representation or district system?

Lesson objectives

• Can you distinguish democratic practices from authoritarian practices in a given political system?
  
• Can you compare democratic systems based on how they solve the effectiveness versus participation dilemma?

https:

Statement: the legal voting age  should be lowered to 16

What's the difference between the political system in the US and that of the Netherlands?

Today's questions

• Why do Omtzigt and van der Plas want a new election system?
• Why are there only two big parties (democrats and republicans) in the US while the Netherlands has 16?

Proportional representation electoral system

Seats in parliament are divided among the parties in proportion to the amount of votes each party received.

Current system in the Netherlands

District electoral system

= majority system, country is divided into several districts and every district gets 1 seat in parliament --> ''Winner takes it all''

In US, UK, France, etc. AND the Netherlands until 1917

nos.nl

The Netherlands should go back to having a district electoral system 

• Roles per team: 1 speaker, 1 devil's advocate, 1 time-keeper
• First 5 minutes: skim article in silence 
• Next 10 minutes: discuss your arguments with your team. 
• !Use the participation versus efficiency dilemma in your argumentation!
• Next 5 minutes: DEBATTLE!  One minute per team, 'In favor' starts.  

Arguments in favor of the proportional representation system

Arguments in favor of the 'winner takes it all' system

Today: political ideologies

Lesson objectives:

• You can explain in your own words what the difference is between left-wing/socialist, right-wing/liberal, progressive, conservative, denominational, one-issue and populist parties and give examples of each.
• You can explain which political party best represents your personal views. 

Name the political parties that are represented in the Second Chamber 

Which party represents your beliefs? 

Do the test at partijenwijzer.nl 

https:

What's the difference between a left-wing and a right-wing ideology? 

And between a progressive and conservative ideology?

Left versus right: the socio-economic divide

Left: EQUALITY AND SOLITARITY! (main ideals behind socialism)

• Active government (redistribution)
• High taxes --> equal opportunities provided by the state

Right: FREEDOM! (main ideals behind liberalism)

• Passive government (free market)
• Low taxes --> personal responsibility and freedom

Progressive versus conservative: the moral/ethical divide

Progressive: forward-looking, change and freedom regarding ethical issues is positive and needed

• e.g. open towards gay marriage, ambitious climate regulations and abortion

Conservative: traditional values should be preserved, change is unwanted

• e.g. sceptical towards EU, refugees and legalisation of drugs
• Sometimes linked to religion: denominational parties based on Christian faith

The political compass

Single-issue parties

Populism

• More a style than an ideology (not left or right)
• Claim to be the voice of the people against the elite
• Often proposes simplistic solutions based on nationalism

Lesson objectives

• Can you explain in your own words what the difference is between left-wing/socialist, right-wing/liberal, progressive, conservative, denominational, one-issue and populist parties and give examples of each?
• Can you explain which political party best represents your personal views?

Today

• Portfolio and party manifest+debate grades
• Vote in the student elections 
• Why elections are not democratic 

https:

Who do the Dutch people elect during the national elections?

1. Who will be the next prime minister
2. Who will represent us in the parliament
3. Which parties will be part of the next cabinet

Representation versus representativeness

Representation = people who will act/speak for you in an official situation (e.g. elected members of parliament)

Representativeness = the degree to which those representatives accurately represent the opinions and interests of those they represent 

Do you think the politicians representing us in the second chamber are a good representation of the Dutch population (= high level of representativeness)? Why (not)?

https:

How are decisions usually taken in your family?
Is this similar or different from how decisions are made in politics?

1. Parents decide
2. You discuss until you find a solution everyone agrees with
3. The majority decides
4. Other

Can you come up with another way (besides elections) citizens could choose their representatives?

0

Why is David van Reybrouck against elections?

What does the phrase 'democracy is the tyranny of the majority' mean?

Majority rule versus deliberative (discussion-based) decision making

Any questions/comments about the elections?

What happened in Dutch politics during the past week?

Lesson objectives

• You can describe the different roles of the government and the parliament in a parliamentary democracy
• You can evaluate this balance of power as it occurs in practice 
• You can recognize the executive and legislative bodies at different levels of politics (municipality, province, state, EU)

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

Parliament (1st + 2nd chamber)

ROLE:

1. CO-LEGISLATION (initiate, amend and vote on laws)
2. MONITOR THE GOVERNMENT (right to ask questions, investigate cases and express distrust)

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

Government (Cabinet/Council of Ministers)

ROLE:

1. DAILY GOVERNMENT (ensure execution of laws)
2. CO-LEGISLATION (propose laws based on coalition agreement)       

Based on these roles, who do you think has the most power?

1. The parliament
2. The government

Prime minister Rutte is being accused of not respecting the balance of power between government and parliament. How so?

Rutte: great leader in times of crisis or time for a new political culture? 

Legislative bodies 

• Local: Municipal Council (Gemeenteraad)
• Province: Provincial Council (Provinciale Staten)
• National: Parliament (Staten-Generaal)
• EU: European Parliament + Council of the EU 

Executive bodies 

• Local: College van Burgemeester en Wethouders
• Province: Gedeputeerde Staten
• National: Government/ Cabinet/Council of ministers
• EU: European Commission

Lesson objectives

• You can describe the different roles of the government and the parliament in a parliamentary democracy
• You can evaluate this balance of power as it occurs in practice 
• You can recognize the executive and legislative bodies at different levels of politics (municipality, province, state, EU)

Questions? Comments? Feelings?

Questions? Comments? Feelings?

What is the difference between the government (kabinet) and the parliament (2de kamer)?

Your next project

With your buddy, choose a local or European law and tell the story of how this law turned a problem into a solution! 

Specific instructions: next week!

TODAY: From problem (input) to solution/law (output)

Easton's systems theory

Case study: the Dutch climate law (95% fewer CO2-emissions in 2050 compared to 1990; 49% reduction by 2030).

1. INPUT: Which actors put the problem of climate change on the political agenda? In which ways? What are their demands?

2. INSIDE THE POLITICAL SYSTEM: 

from proposal to law

1. A minister or member of the second chamber writes a proposal for a new law to solve the issue
2. The second chamber debates, proposes amendments and votes on the proposal 
3. The first chamber votes on the proposal (final check, no changes allowed)
4. The King and responsible minister sign the new law

3. OUTPUT Who is responsible for the implementation of the climate law?

1. The King
2. The Minister of economic affairs and climate
3. The second chamber
4. Civil society

4. Feedback: new issues arise and the process starts again

Easton's systems theory

Can you explain the process from problem (input) to solution/law (output) in your own words using Easton's systems theory?

At what level of politics (municipality, province national, EU, UN) should climate policy be decided? Why?

The principle of subsidiarity

Issues should be dealt with at the lowest/most appropriate level of politics (balance between centralization to higher levels and decentralization to lower levels). Every level has its own competencies.

Statement: 

In a welfare state students should be able to study for free.