The article deals with the issue of transformation world nations into Constituted Democracy. It analyses the nature of global conflicts and how Constituted Democracy addresses these issues of conflict and integrates a basis for the resolution of these conflicts. It discusses the issue of Constituted Democratic transformation of each nation and how these transformations will lead to a peaceful, equitable and sustainable world.
By Arular Arudpragasam
State of the World
(May 06, Geneva, Sri Lanka Guardian) As the world moves from a period of misconceptions, miscalculations into a period of helplessness and exasperation, the transition from a problem ridden world into a civilised and peaceful world becomes a more formidable challenge. Many countries struggle with gasping poverty and unemployment, the world has been plunged into a financial and economic recession that challenges the notion the current living standards can be sustained.
Though communication and internet has advanced exponentially, and has enabled the greater awareness of the state of the world, it has also led to the realisation of disabilities of poor nations and existing injustices making world a more strife torn place. The mission to perpetuate the old habits has not disappeared with no vision of a pathway to a better world. Ascendancy of militarism to resolve national and international conflicts has relegated the wisdom of the ancients to history while the world is at loss to face many of her problems both present and future.
Democracy is not a solution to any problem. It is an opportunity to resolve problems or exasperate them. The instability and discontent that leads to alienation of many in a democracy, has not provided the opportunity for inclusive governance. The impermanency which democracy brings is thrust upon nations and has not helped the addressing of long term issues which calls for unpopular solutions and the result is considerable damage before solutions can be implemented.
The Objective of Peaceful world
Transition to Constituted Democracy eliminates the insecurity and the divisiveness that characterises the democratic governments, stamps out extremism, consolidates and unifies nations and enables them to be at peace with itself and out side world. The transcending nature of Constituted Democracy and its universal consensual foundation will lead to a peaceful world ending the need for unifying imperialistic ambitions that undermine global peace.
The promotion of sectarian ideological agendas of communism and liberal democracy and their triumphalism led to reactionary backlash like fascism and fundamentalism. Under Constituted Democracy, this would become a thing of the past and would fad away paving the way for harmonious dialogue and engagement where no one feels threatened. In the atmosphere of security afforded by Constituted Democracy the balanced alternatives can be explored before new is instituted to old ways.
The Objective of Equitable World
The global sustainability and stability greatly depends on the achievement of an equitable world. The imbalance that exists between rich and poor nations has led to migration and refugee pressures and abject poverty of many nations. As the current financial order is aimed at monetary exploitation of nations which is facilitated by the maintaining the discrepancy in the value of labour which in turn leads to severe incapacitation of nations, the agenda of an equitable world where nations can be empowered equally and the value of human labour made equal for similar work capacity enables equitable development of nations.
The institutional and capacity transfer necessary for the implementation of the agenda for equitable world cannot be facilitated with differing ideological background of nations, impermanency of political systems and discord within nations. As multi party system casts a shadow of insecurity of political systems, the issues that could be addressed and resolved under it too are limited. The resulting situation enables the continued perpetuation unequal relationship of nations with little possibility of addressing the fundamental issue of monetary exploitation and monetarily induced inequality.
The implementation of inclusive Constituted Democracy idea enables the opportunity for building more harmonious relationship between nations, address long term issues and implement solution that would end monetary exploitation and enable the achievement of an equitable global village. When equal pay is available for equal work, the disintegrative pressures on poor nations will end. This will also end the culture of supporting wars for the purpose of migrating to greener pastures as asylum seekers as that has become the only way of getting into rich countries.
The Objective of Sustainable World.
As greater cooperation is needed among nations to meet the global concerns of sustainability, the strife and discord that is the cornerstone of single majoritarian democracies and the day to day survivalism of struggling governments gives little room for consideration of long term issues or enable nations to be become engaged with long term problems. Global warming and issues like financial crisis have been identified as major problems only after considerable damage has been done in giving little opportunity for any effective remedial action. The lack of foresight and short-termism that characterises democratic governments continues to undermine long term existentialist and sustainability concerns of humanity.
The need to address environmental, economic and socio political issues to assure sustainable existence has gained importance in recent times. This entails implementation of long term solutions to global concerns to be implemented in concert with other nations. The sustainability concerns can be integrated into national policies without the fear of becoming unpopular. Constituted Democracy paves the way for responsible governing process to take root in all the countries of the world.
The sustainability concerns, under democracy, add to the insecurity that democracy brings to governance. Sustainability factor as a political necessity is inbuilt into Constituted Democratic system enabling governance with a long term perspective. The global transformation into Constituted Democracy will enable the achievement of peaceful, equitable and sustainable world.
The contradictions and conflicts of the world
Overlapping of realms is the basis of all conflicts. As there are expanding realms, natural and man made, the struggle for space between expanding realms keeps the world in perpetual conflict. As realms of uniformity expand, it leads to transgression, infiltration and often to imposition and displacement, conflicts too pervade the globe in a relentless struggle for secure existence. Even an expanding and growing family is set in an agenda of conflicts of realms and their regulation and conflict resolution has been mans preoccupation from the time family life became institutionalised. The next social organisation that has been mans conflict resolution platform has been the village and ethnicities.
Of the larger realms, the fundamental historical contradiction has been between barbarism and civilisation from the time human existence diverged as settled agricultural civilisations and hunter gatherer nomadic existence. The transgressions of the two mode of existence led to the perpetual conflict between barbarism and civilisation and that has been the primary primordial and historical contradiction of human existence that has extended to this day.
Though there has been an attempt to identify the larger conflict that exists between civilisations as clash of civilisations, the studies have failed to identify the fundamental historical contradiction that exists between barbarism and civilisations. The demarcations given to civilisations based on commonalities of religion, culture, race failed to see what is beyond this demarcation which is the conflict between barbarism and civilisations. Whether contradictions are between civilisations or between ideological realms like communism or liberal democracy or manifests as between cultures and religions, the factor of fundamental historical contradiction in these conflicts is overwhelming in many instances.
As both streams of human existence have been around for over 5000 years, ethos of both has left such imprint on the genetic make up of both streams with differing attitude and perception of existential problems. Even when there has been considerable overlap of both, such as in the case of India, the overlap remains distinct and unintegrated. The traitual differences are significant. Though barbarism as it existed 3000 years ago, raiding on the horseback, cannot be seen anywhere now, it has integrated with the civilisations mainly into its superstructure or transformed as civilisations, but the fundamental orientation and comprehension as well as its reactionary nature has little changed.
The Civilisational Process
What distinguishes the civilisational process is its permanency and sustainability. This is both its strength and its weakness. The permanency and sustainability makes it to be stagnant in time and change it despises. Civilisations are anchored on the firm foundation of normative structuralism and is its primary characteristic. As civilisations are primarily agricultural in nature, they are landlocked. Contours of civilisations are territorial bound with other commonalities such as religion, culture adds to this demarcation. The normative structuralist base can be the cast system or the hierarchical system. The hereditarial succession and hereditarial monarchy are common to all civilisations.
Culture carries with it a regime of permanency and continuity. Culture is a norm in civilisations. It enhances the permanency and sustainability of societies. Cultures have developed as part of the civilisational process. As the religious foundations of civilisations are characterised by monistic mulitheism, often culture is integrated as part of this religious paradigm.
For about 5,000 years, the Greko Summer Dravidian belt that stretched from Sri Lanka to the British isles, was the cradle of settled civilisations and was based on cast based normativism. The Chinese and American civilisation were based on hierarchical system and the African civilisation was based on clan system. The history of conflict between barbarism and Greko Summer Dravidian civilisations starts from about 2000 BC and the conflict has gone on to this day.
All major religions, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam arose as civilisational reaction to barbaric onslaught from within the Greko Summer Dravidian fold. Though base of Hinduism is the religious foundation of Greko Summer Dravidian civilisation, in its present form it has been over cast by the traditions of reactionary and infiltrative barbarism. Buddhism, Christianity and Islam while being religions are also movements that were intended to upholding and defending the civilisational values as well as political movements that were vehicles that took the civilisational values into the barbaric world. The contours between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, the division between Shia and Sunni in the Islamic world signify the differing adoptive significance of barbarism and civilisations and earlier contours between them.
The Barbaric Process
The barbaric thrust over civilisations, which started as attacks on the civilised world, has continued to this day in various forms and underlay most of the global conflicts. As civilisations strive for permanency and sustainability, barbarism has become the torch bearer of change and modernising agent in recent times. Its aversion to normative structuralism has continued to this day. Though in many cultures, memories of barbaric onslaught are vivid to this day, many civilisations have come to integrate and harmonise the barbaric sprit to their advantage as an agent of change and progress.
Western barbarism came to be harnessed by Christianity. The northern barbarism by Islam and eastern Barbarism by Buddhism, the conflict between these civilisational movements and barbarism still exists. These perpetual conflicts can only be attributed to the traitual and genetic difference that has been carried to this day and set between the two streams of human existence. This traitual difference has led to whole set of values that can be attributed to civilisation and barbarism which characterises the orientation and nature of the conflict perception between the two in the modern world.
The following table gives the value orientation of the two.
Other Macro Contradictions, Social, Economic, Religious and National
The conflict between the I and the We is universal and is the fundamental social contradiction. This conflict also extends as the conflict between I and the I and We and the We. When under the influence of normative structuralism in civilisations, and common threat under barbarism, systemic integration takes place with the possibility of over lapping realms, this leads to conflicts which are often local in character and prevalent all over the world. The trust structures and predelictive systemic integration which becomes a source of appropriation of power, the tendency to expand the power base create conditions of over lapping.
The institutions of family, village, territorial community and political parties in democracies all carry the dangers of expanding systemic integration that will lead to overlapping realms and clashes if not regulated by society and governments. The power process of simple majoritarian democracies, which are a source of political alienation and discrimination, is a cause of prolonged subjugative predelictive non appropriation of power that leads to violent reaction. The conflict between the collective and the individual that manifested as the cold war clash between communism and liberal democracy led to a confrontation that once threatened the world with nuclear holocaust and extinction.
The primary economic contradiction of humanity is that between the haves who have a secure life and have nots who struggle for day to day existence. This led to the projection by Marx of the existence of class contradiction as as the basis for revolutionary change and establishing the communist state by the overthrow of capitalist class where the means of production will be owned by the state as trustee of all the people. This led to the rightist reactionary backlash in the form of fascist dictatorships and liberal democracy defending the private property and individual freedoms.
Monetary Exploitation, where using the money as tool, continuation of discrepancy in the value of labour has led to the serous inequalities between nations and has become the source of contradiction between poor nations and rich nations. The global trade has become an exercise of appropriation of cheap labour and resources from poor countries. The maintaining discrepancies that exist in the value of human labour and resources, through global instruments and monetary architecture, has led to exasperation of poor nations and their conflict with rich nations.
As major religions are anti barbaric and expansionist and are always on the offensive, and religions can become a tool of barbaric expansion at times, the expansionist process of religions, which is accompanied by evolution of religious power structures leads to overlapping of predelictive realms. The conflict between religions has been in the forefront of contradiction of mankind and it has replaced the conflict between empires. Often religions are a tool and shroud of expansionist schemes which are either barbaric or civilisational in nature.
As the civilisational foundation is stagnant and sustainable, civilisations are principally rooted in normative structuralism with clear demarcation of territory. However mavericks and empire builders have come to power and provided civilisations with an aggressive agenda. Barbarism as such often lead a parasitic existence as part of civilisations and in spite of its adoption of civilised values including Christianity, Islam and Siavaism, it has not been tamed fully to this day. The urge to dominate and undermine civilisations has led to its continued struggle with civilisations. Through its global barbaric agenda, it is always on the lookout for advancing its agenda of domination throughout the world.
Though European nations are the product of barbaric overlay over a civilised base, the two layers differ in strength and depth among nation to nation. After the collapse of Rome which was a barbaric experiment in civilisation and its subsequent subjugation by barbarism, the upsurge of barbarism has characterised the western civilisation for too long. If protestant reaction was an expression of barbaric spirit, colonialism gave opportunity for its expansion. The post colonial order was very much shaped by barbaric perception and zeal. Western colonialism very often enabled the domination of local barbaric layers and tribes over civilised people as allies of colonialism.
Though the defeat of barbaric forces in the World War II was a blow to the agenda of barbaric domination, the end of war II led to the post war order giving raise to many unsustainable nations based on barbaric incomprehension of civilisational contours. Nations with historical antagonism, diverse nations of different cultures and civilisational experience and historical rights perception were dumped as one nation. Nations with conflicting over layers and value systems were left as one nation to be in a state of perpetual conflict.
The opportunity for usurpation under democracy legitimised the stifling of many nations. The world today is an unsustainable melting pot of many nations with substantial internal and often intractable conflicts. Simple majoritarian democracy was expected to resolve these conflicts where it has only aggravated them. Added to this instability is the external agenda of barbarism that is perpetually on the lookout for undermining the sovereignty of these artificially created nations to make a comeback with its agenda of domination.
The Current State of Global Democracy
Democracy at its face value is seen as pathway to freedom as it contends that it gives opportunity for all shades of opinions to coexist and enable their enthronement as the governing ideology. However the ideologies in themselves are exclusive in nature and the simple majoritarianism would shut out the less popular ideologies. Marxism as an electoral programme sought the exclusion of individual freedom and enterprise culture while liberal ideologies sought to banish Marxism. Both sought exclude the civilisational foundation of societies and excluded the middle path.
In spite of its universal pretensions, democracy is about enthroning some at the expense of the other leaving the society in a state of strife, disappointment and alienation. The result is societies are left with a highly imperfect system of governance with divided societies as norm with dictatorial tendencies attempting to usurp power through impossible promises. The decline of socialist utopian claims have given way to the premature Liberal Democracy’s claim of triumphalism that it has taken over the world and this is the end of all other ideologies.
However this is a challenge to civilisations and human nature which dangle between the collective and the individual on a daily basis. The assumption that the liberal democracy and its agenda of individual freedom has triumphed for good has also enabled the West that its leadership of humanity has been assured and its views of the world are right and all what has to be done to end the vows of the world is to follow its liberal democratic path and adopt to its values.
The barbaric incomprehension which is the foundation of such naiveté thinking has led the world into many protracted conflicts. When conflict are civilisational in character like the conflict between the Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka or between Israel and Palatine, Western attempts to promote democracy leads to aggravation of conflicts and do not eliminate the causes of conflicts.
In a state of non resolution of conflicts, the culture of incomprehension not only prevents the evolution of just solution but extends to the reduction of just wars to eliminate injustice as an issue of terrorism. This has left the world at a loss when it comes to finding solution to protracted conflicts. The cry of human rights and promise of development only shrouds the genetic disability of barbaric incomprehension and its irreconcilability with values of civilisation, recognition of which is essential to resolving civilisational conflicts.
Constituted Democracy as the Ideal Form of Democracy
The realisation of objective of a peaceful, equitable and sustainable world can be achieved through its transformation into Constituted Democracy. It will enable the addressing of the macro conflicts of the world as well as local conflicts. It rejects the claims of Marx and his utopian communism as well as the claims of the Liberal Democracy which has become a vehicle for barbarism in the modern world. Constituted Democracy provides the opportunity for balance between collective effort of humanity and individual welfare without which it cannot resolve many problems of sustainable existence as well as provisions and empowers the civilisational base which provides for security and stability and cultural happiness. Constituted Democracy limits and disciplines the barbaric sprit from its course of avarice and provide for progress and change and individual freedom wherever it is required.
As upsurge of barbarism through democracy and liberal democracy has destabilised many civilisations and threatens the rest, the world has become very unstable and conflict ridden with little opportunity for resolution of many conflicts. The nations of the world are is different levels of conflict and flux. The promotion of Constituted Democracy and transformation of nations through appropriate constitutional initiatives will gradually lead the world to its final destination of global village where humanity can achieve a state of peaceful coexistence through perpetual dialogue and sharing.
The Transformation of USA into a Constituted Democracy
The USA by its wealth and power has projected itself as the world leader and a role model for other nations. However its singular commitment to freedom and liberal democracy has also been a cause of global destabilisation. The simple majoritarian principle and modernism it promotes has been a source of its own sense of inner insecurity as well as others. Its negation of its own collective existence through its aversion and rejection of the left and the absence of a normative civilisational base and without the cultural foundation of permanency, which has been battered away by its commercialism, makes it a transient and still unstabilised nation.
As a useful role model for the rest of the world, it fares poorly as its life style is based on over consumption and is unsustainable. Its attempts to compensate this shortcoming of its inner insecurity, in the absence of a civilisational foundation, by the adoption of imperialist agenda of domination, has been a cause for many unwanted wars in the world.
Its calash with civilisations arising out its incomprehension of the civilisational foundation of other nations and single minded commitment to liberal democracy and freedom, has led its perpetual struggle with other civilisations. Its inability to address such issues as monetary exploitation, which has been its primary agenda of economic relationship with the rest of the world and cause of its wealth, has handicapped its ability to lead the world towards its peaceful, equitable and sustainable existence.
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By providing for the legitimacy of the natural policy tracts of its citizens through the adoption of Constituted Democracy through the amending the constitution and by providing for active embodiment of sovereignty for the institution of an integrated normative possibly Christian civilisational foundation in place of its current highly fragmented, disunited and weak base a naturally secure nationhood can be established. The firm anchoring on her foundation and by providing for the active articulation of her collective will through provisioning the legitimacy of the left, USA can be brought to peace with itself and rest of the world without having to look for outposts for the promotion global barbaric agenda to sustain her unity.
In term of its history and culture, USA is a new nation that came to be established by displacing the old civilisation that was in palace on its territory. The people of USA have belonged to many civilisations and barbaric tribes of Europe. However they came to be integrated as nation on a mosaic of liberalism, freedom and a tradition of top down legal process giving an over emphasis to individual freedom and liberal democracy and economic traditions based on thrift and greed. All this points to, starting from her inception, an ascendancy of barbaric values in her body politic through her commitment to liberalism. It is time USA is harmonised with rest of the world through its transformation into a Constituted Democracy providing for the ascendancy of civilisational values of permanency and happiness of culture and providing opportunity for legitimate and lively articulation of her collective will, enabling her to play a tangible role in the achievement of peaceful, equitable and sustainable world.
Constituted Democratic Transformation of China
China within a period of hundred years moved from its ancient civilisational governance to extreme communism and drifting towards the right at present. But she still has not had the democratic swings as China was never a democracy and her swing has been gradual in nature. Her single party structure gives her added advantage in transforming into a Constituted Democracy as it is easier to transform a single party structure into a Constituted Democratic Party than integrating numerous parties into a single Constituted Democratic Party. By legitimately provisioning the articulation of the left, middle and right ideological streams, her governing process would attain more legitimacy and end the sense of oppression of the individual and private enterprise, making China a free and confident nation.
China,s communism and its hierarchical structure has blended with her ancient civilisational foundation making her a secure nation. However the civilisation of the ancients, for its sustainability, depended on the rich Chinese culture and philosophical traditions and creativity where as the communist hierarchism has depended on coercive force. The suppression of the individual and cultural freedom under the earlier phase of the revolution and communist rule has left the opportunity for stigmatisation which was pursued as a programme of the Cultural Revolution.
The process of active embodiment of sovereignty and legitimately provisioning the right and middle ideological streams through Constituted Democracy would release the civilisational energy, creativity and variety of China free of inhibitions and stigma in a way that that is not possible under a communist party rule. Adoption of Constituted Democracy in China and in Hong Kong and Taiwan would end the continued political conflict that exists with these democratic constituents today. The opportunity for grater freedom and self preservation under Constituted Democracy would end China,s isolation and make her a stronger nation where people feel free and not regimented while at the same time making China a great nation able to meet the future with self confidence as well as address the long term problems threatening humanity.
Constituted Democratic Transformation of India
India which is the largest democracy in the world is also a continent of religions, languages, ideologies, cultures and nations where every thing coexist and conflict. It is the freest nation on the face of the earth as well as her largest garbage dump of all things. In terms of wealth, the disparity among her citizens can be stunning. Her congested and polluted cities harbour the largest middle class as well as poorest shanties while in the rural areas one can still find the ancient villages rich in culture and traditions and where normative structuralism and sustainability still rules.
The initial Gerko Summer Dravidian civilisational base has been under continued barbaric onslaught of variant nature for the last 3500 years, making her a crucible of syntheses of barbarism and civilisation. Starting with incursions over Indus around 1500 BC, the conflict and struggle between civilisation and barbarism has taken many different forms and last being the combined onslaught of Liberal Democracy and Brahmanism in the post colonial period. The British rule could not have been possible if not for the effective alliance with Brahmanism which led to its ascendancy as a collaborator layer at the expense of civilisational forces during the colonial period.
Her inner strength which lies in her civilisational foundation, saw a revival during her independence movement in the personification of Mahatma Gandhi, had a calculated end with the killing of Gandhi paving the way for ascendancy of Barbaric forces coming from the north. This led to the perpetual struggle with civilisational assertion and backlash coming from the south. Going after everything American has been has been her governing ideology and culture lately. The middleclass value orientation synchronised with the west and promoted by the media which started during Rajeev Gandhi’s period, will soon lead to an India that cannot recognise the real India. The path of confrontation with the base civilisational normative foundation will eventually lead to chaos, confrontation and eventual disintegration of India.
The divisiveness, disappointment and accumulated alienation generated at the two levels of state and centre under democracy, will eventually make India drift into a state of uncontrollable violence with little opportunity for recovery under democracy. The current trend is to go down the route of fighting terrorism. (Americans will be there to give advice on how to fight terrorism adding to the culture of incomprehension that is already guiding Indian reaction). As the most alienated community in India, the reaction will first come from the Muslims and currently Tamil Nadu adds to this list as a consequence of India’s mishandling of the Sri Lankan issue.
Before events reach a stage of uncontrollability and no return, India should identify the real culprit of growing conflicts and ungovernability which is the multi party simple majoritarian democracy. The parliament and political parties should come together to debate the transformation of India into a Constituted Democracy, rewrite her constitution transforming her into a constituted democracy, enabling her to end the conflicts, strife, alienations and provide for effective and inclusive governance, preserve the union through better comprehension and accommodation of the will of her constituent nations, end the sense of insecurity and make India a peaceful, more equitable and sustainable nation capable of facing the future with confidence.
Constituted Democratic Transformation of Russia
Russia which has become disappointed with liberal democracy and the communism will become the unified and strong nation it wants to be, through its transformation into Constituted Democracy. Coming from within the Greko Summer Dravidian fold, her strong orthodox civilisational foundation has been the source of her inner strength. Her responsibilities as a vanguard of civilisations are considerable. Constituted Democracy provides her the stability and continuity as well as opportunity for her progress without hindrance. Russia which has been a riddle for the west will finally have a political system that tallies with its inner urge and that provides for her nature and aspirations. Russia will be a stable and successful model of Constituted Democracy.
Constituted Democratic Transformation of Islamic Countries
In the struggle with barbarism, civilisations produced many counter movements to keep barbarism at bay. Buddha came up with a religious agenda purifying the religious foundation of civilisations from the corruptive influence of barbaric religious influence. After its initial success, it was undermined through infiltration and Buddhism was on the retreat. In the west, the fall back and retreat of Alexander’s militarism after its reinstatement of civilisational values, led to the Roman imperialism which was rolled back by Jesus Christ through his agenda of Kingdom of God and universal love.
Christian Rome was overrun by barbarism by the 5th Century AD and Christianity was on retreat. By this period barbarism has successfully overrun Christian Roman Empire, and has occupied North Africa and was looking for an eastward expansion. When the Greco Summer Dravidian world was faced the threat of new wave of barbarism coming from the west, Prophet Mohamed instituted Islam as a countering philosophy where by he sought to eliminate the causes of stagnation and haplessness of civilisations in the face of the barbaric threat and onslaught.
He opted to dismantling the foundations and superstructure of civilisations and embedded them in his new religio - governing philosophy of Islam, integrating an aggressive military agenda as he felt offensive onslaught is the best form of defence against barbarism. His scheme gathered momentum transforming stagnant civilisations into dynamic Islamic militant entities and soon barbarism was on the retreat and Islamic forces soon occupied the barbaric world in the west and the north. Barbaric nations too were converted to Islam. However after the death of Prophet Mohamed, many barbaric nations opted for their own variant of Islam dividing the Islamic world into Sunni and Shia, but their aggressive behaviour towards the civilised world was greatly reduced.
Prophet Mohamed’s political ingenuity embedded the three natural ideological divisions of the Ijma (community), the Sunna (traditions) and Ijtihad (Individual) legitimately into his political scheme of Islam as the basis of Islamic governance. This enabled Islamic governance both progressive and tradition bound as well as equalising. The ascendancy of communism and liberalism seeking to exclude other two streams as well as the middle path led Islam’s uneasy relationship with these ideologies. Though the west propped up the traditional middle order in the form of Islamic fundamentalism as a countermeasure against communism, after the retreat of communism form the Islamic world, the domineering agenda of barbarism and liberal democracy has led to the return of the perpetual clash of Islam with barbarism, its traditional enemy.
The institution of alienating democracy and its culture of usurpation and the partiality of liberal democracy is contradictory to Islam and has ripped the Islamic world and made many of them strife ridden and helpless. Only autocratic democratic dictatorships and monarchical governments provide stable governments in the Islamic world. Constituted Democracy harmoniously integrates with Islam. The way for peace and tranquillity in Islamic countries lies in their transformation into Constituted Democratic nations blending and integrating Islamic civilisations and cultures with Constituted Democratic process by providing for the legitimate articulation of unifying collective, the permanency and continuity of the tradition and the enterprise of the individual that will assure the harmonious rule of Islamic countries.
The Transformation of Other Nations into Constituted Democracy.
The nations of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Cuba will have peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies by switching to Constituted Democracy. The constituted democratic transformation of Israel an Palestine will enable the ending of the Israel Palestine conflict. Afghanistan where there are 85 political parties under democracy, through its reintegration as a new nation through active embodiment of sovereignty and institution of constituted democratic policy process, will become an inclusive peaceful and stable nation.
The African nations where democracy has been a perennial failure should turn to Constituted Democracy for her stability and progress. The African civilisation based on tribal and homeland demarcations with clan and tribal chiefs, the process of active embodiment of sovereignty and constituted democratic policy process provides the best option for stable and sustainable governance. Countries like South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya where there are many tribal kingdoms can bring democracy closer to their people and provide effective governance by ending the divisiveness of multi party democracy. Strife torn nations like Sudan and Somalia, Chad could find permanent peace by their transformation into Constituted Democracy which can be easily adopted to Islamic laws.
Nations like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal will able to resolve their internal conflicts and see stable, peaceful inclusive governments that will be a source of internal peace and harmony through their transformation into Constituted Democracy. The instability of Buddhist countries like Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos will end with the introduction of the Constituted Democratic system that will harmoniously blend with Buddhism. Vietnam that has been ruled by Communist party will legitimately provide for the articulation of her free will and traditions through the introduction of Constituted Democracy.
The nations of Europe that within them have drifted between the left, right and centre could see a culture of mature stable governance through the transformation into Constituted Democracy. Britain which has been on the pendulamic swing for long will see peaceful and more responsible governance emerging which will not struggle with its transient character and invent democracy on a daily basis but a stable and contented democracy. Constituted Democratic government will lead to a culture of governance that will enable the deployment of all her energy and resources for national wellbeing. Though there has been the three streams of policy, the labour left, the middle conservative and liberal right, policy transgression has confused the British public in recent times and undermined the policy process. The end of political opportunism and neutralisation and corruption of policy process will lead to clear articulation of policy and national governance.
Countries of Europe with hereditarial monarchy will revive their monarchical system through the active embodiment of sovereignty. Where monarchies are popular, their retention will become more legitimate gaining their endorsement of the people as sovereigns as well as the activation of other normative structures in society.
Many countries of Europe including France and Germany, Norway have seen the perpetual swing between the three ideological streams. These countries will shift into more peaceful, total and inclusive governance. Italy will end its hanging by the thread democracy by its transformation into Constituted Democracy. Government will not be under siege by their transience. Catholicism will harmoniously integrate with the new governing process which will be legitimately provided for the exercise of her authority through the active embodiment process. The civilisational foundation of many European societies will no more be threatened by communism or liberal democracy under Constituted Democratic governments. Whatever that is left of this normative foundation will be rescued through the active embodiment of sovereignty and legitimately sustained as a means of promoting sustainable existence and peaceful governance.
Conclusion
The success of implementing the Constituted Democratic Transformation Agenda will very depend on the desire of humanity for a peaceful, equitable and sustainable world. If the world has to be what it is now, a play ground for forces of domination and greed and destabilisation, the need for Constituted Democratic transforamtion can be far less and the task ahead of transforming the world into a Constituted Democracy can be surmounting. The manifestation of the fundamental historical conflict that exists between barbarism and civilisation is everywhere. If bringing an end to this conflict is not possible through the institution of Constituted Democracy, the world will continue to see an ascendancy of strife and discord and terrorism arising out of accumulated alienation, exclusion and agenda s of domination.
There are many pathways to the constituted democratic transformation. Each nation should seek what is most suited to it. Constituted Democratic Parties can be instituted into multi party democracy by its registration as one of the parties as a party with three independent ideological structures or as three parties that will come together and form a coalition government and can progress towards establishing the constituted democratic polity. It can be arrived at through the decision of the legislature and coming together of political parties to transform the nation into a Constituted Democracy. A Constituted Democrtic constitution can be drafted and put to a referendum and the transformation can be effected through a people’s mandate.
Apart from its promotion through the Global Sustainability Initiative (GSI) imperative, the international institutions like the UN and other NGOs can promote Constituted Democracy as a means for resolving the problem of unstable and conflict ridden nations as well as a means of their own decision making process and adopting it to situations that cannot be resolved within the context of multipartyism an simple majoritarian principle. It is the best way to bringing democracy to nations that cannot be persuaded to become multi party democracies. Constituted Democratic system sees multi party system as a source of conflict and an inferior system of democracy and calls for the end of its reign and replacement with Constituted Democracy. The transcending nature of Constituted Democracy and the constitutional integration of nations through the process of active embodiment of sovereignty can transform strife ridded nations into new revived nations of peace and harmony.
Constituted Democracy is no utopia. It is a well thought through and comprehensive system of governance. Transformation of world’s nations into Constituted Democracy is the beginning of a new chapter in human history, bringing an end to liberal democracy, that has been a source of many conflicts, and also communism, that sought to stifle the free will. It is the pathway to a new global order, peaceful, equitable and sustainable which is the need of the hour.
The author is the Director General of the programme Global Sustainability Initiative, Trincomalee and can be reached by email at: globsustain@hotmail.com
The ‘Idea of Constituted Democracy’ is a Foundation Lecture of the GSI Programme
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