Kalistan

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Empress Publishes "Contra Democracy" in AJET
Article responds to Valruzian President's Deliberative Democracy piece
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
July 31, 5721


Her Imperial Majesty addresses symposium on Kalistan's diminished role in the 58th Century

Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto, the last of the real absolutist rulers in Terra, had a piece published in The Anantonese Journal of Economics and Theory, called "Contra Democracy: The Dangers of Moral Equality as a System of Government." This article is Her Imperial Majesty's first peer-reviewed political theory article to be published in a scholarly journal.

"The article, written by Her Imperial Majesty, and submitted last month was a direct response to the scholarly piece published by President-Chancellor of Valruzia, Mr. Gawel Sandów in The Valruzian Journal of Political Thought," said journal editor Dr. Quentin Malacarra. "She submitted it using our online portal, and throughout used plural pronouns so her reviewes just thought that there was more than one author. The only one who knew that the Empress had submitted the article was myself and her. It was correctly formatted, within word limits, and dealt with a topic of current interest, and so it was assigned to five political theorists on our editorial staff who assessed it for its potential contribution to our field, its scholarly merit, and it potential audience. Three of five gave it a provisional pass, one reviewer rejected it and advised revision and resubmission and one rejected it flat out. Ultimately, the editors agreed to pass it with significant revisions, mostly around style and organization. The biggest critic wanted it to include more citations from work outside of the President's paper alone."

Following the process, the Dr. Malacara said it was pushed to publication for a couple of reasons. "First, Her Imperial Majesty had an incredibly fast turn around time on the revisions, which made it easier. She did her revisions and had it resubmitted via the portal within 24 hours of getting her notes back, while it took all five reviewers more tan 3 days to give the final thumbs up. Next we wanted to place it in this month's edition because the President-Chancellor had published his article last month, and the debate is still fresh. Third, I knew it was the Empress, so I figured she should take some priority in terms of scheduling."

Dr. Malacara said that the article is even handed. "If anything I would agree with one of the reviewers that there is perhaps too much praise in the piece for the work of the Valruzian President. His article was good, but there were a number of things I expected the Empress to address that would take him to task, and her argument ended up being that the flaw in his argument is the conflation of the "should" with the "is". That's something theorists should not do, of course, but she could have been more forceful in ripping into democracy and taking a stand. Instead, she treated the President as a collogue with whom she has an academic disagreement, not as an advocate of a foreign and bad political ideology."

Others found the disagreement, carried out in the academic press to be something of a curiosity. "I don't think I have seen anything like this," said Political Science Professor Dr. Wallace Multon of Kaliburg Polytechnic. "Usually, the newspaper is the domain of politicians making their case to the public. Academic journals are not for the plebian reader. Perhaps she thought Kalistan's theory journal was an appropriate place to answer an argument made in the Valruzian political theory journal."

Professor Carina Chan of Suldanor Duchy University said, "I think she gave [Valruzian President Sandow] what he was asking for really. He was calling for the opportunity to consider political ideas not with heated rhetoric, but with careful reasoned discourse. It may not have direct policy implications in either of our country, but she took his argument seriously, noted where she agreed, and answered him where she did not. I would say that those who read the exchange will benefit from the conversation, even if it is only in understanding that there are different views on democracy, and neither come from the liberal perspective--a fact I am particularly thankful, because we have a bit too much of that in this world."

Her Imperial Majesty has begun giving more public appearances where she speaks at some length about the nature of the Kalistani system. "She may believe that few actually understand our system outside Kalistan," said Professor Chan. "There is a lot of evidence for this: Absolutism has declined across Terra. Kalistan is the only nation with an explicitly absolutist regime now, as the remaining monarchies have moved toward more constitutional, limited regimes and have introduced some degree of democracy. Kalistan is unlikely to ever follow suit willingly, but this does not mean that Kalistan is or should be treated as a pariah. So it is imperative for Her Imperial Majesty to push back on some of the narrative that we are this closed off nation which nobody should deal with. Debates like this, with a consolidated liberal democratic state like Valruzia are healthy: If liberal democracy can withstand it, so much the better for democracy, and if absolutism can stand up to similar pushback, so much the better for our political system."

In addition to supporting a debate around democracy, the publication of this article buttresses Her Imperial Majesty's local reputation as something of a Philosopher Empress. "She has a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a degree in linguistics with an emphasis on Etymology," said Multon. "I am sure she regrets not going farther in school, but her publication of a peer reviewed piece in the most prestigious academic journal in Kalistan is a sign that she is staying up on her studies and practicing her discipline. If this piece sparks a larger debate around democracy, an honorary doctorate for Her Imperial Majesty wouldn't be too far fetched an idea. She has lived what political scientists study for nearly three decades already."

You can read "Contra Democracy: The Dangers of Moral Equality as a System of Government" at The Anantonese Journal of Economics and Theory. where the full text is available for download.

@LaModa