Anantonese Journal of Economics and Theory

[Doc]

Why is Kalistan not a Democracy?
New Public Polls show antipathy toward popular government growing across Empire

Albert Powell, Ph.D. Vrassa Duchy University

Melissa George-Hendrickson, Ph. D. Suldanor Duchy University

Martin Weston, Ph.D. Candidate, Vrassa Duchy University

April 5628

Introduction
For a while late last century and earlier this century, there seemed to be a wave of Democracies selecting a Royal Family for themselves and throwing off popular selection of the Head of State, at the very least.  But more recently, there has followed a strong push toward increasing popular participation in several states, including many of those who had adopted monarchy.  We should note that Monarchy is not incompatible with democracy.  Having a single sovereign, and even a hereditary one, does not preclude participation of the public in government:  We can see such hybrid states in places like Luthori, who, in the past has proudly proclaimed themselves to be a Constitutional Monarchy and a Democracy.  In fact, even many of these states that have adopted Monarchy have maintained the trappings of popular government, such as vibrant and regular political contests for legislative seats between two or more political parties, some of whom may even hold anti-monarchist views at their center.

So it is surprising that there are also several states, Kalistan being one of them, who have actually been successful in not only fully separating political contestation from the function of government, but also have seen a decrease in support for democracy and republicanism, as the rest of the world shifts in the other direction, toward more popular participation.  While some nations have followed Kalistan down the path of absolutist Government, they have done so with more or less success.  However, Kalistan stands alone in its near complete abolition of democracy, not only in the functions of its government, but also in the hearts and minds of its people.  In fact, a recent poll conducted by the independent polling agency New Kalistan Project shows support for "democracy" like the kind that is practiced in republics across Terra to be at an all time low:  Only 17% report that they would like to have a measure more to say in the government, and only 6% said they would like Kalistan to become a Republic.  Meanwhile support for "the Monarchy" is at 89%, and support for Emperor Fredrick III Ananto hovers right around 84%. 

What has Kalistan done to accomplish this feat, where the people not only do not demand more political power for themselves, but actually oppose efforts to give it to them?  There are several features of Kalistani Society, including national history, existing attitudes of the political leadership of the nation, and existing examples from current democracies which militate against democracy in Kalistan, and ensure that Kalistan will remain among the most depoliticized nations in the world for the foreseeable future.

Kalistani History
Kalistan had a thoroughally institutionalized republic for the better part of 3000 years.  That period of time was far more vibrant and one might say vital, earlier in that period, but following the year 2900, one party primarily dominated the history of the Nation, and other parties, even if temporarily in power, rarely had much lasting effect on the nation's politics or regime structure.  That Party, the Socialist Party, dominated the politics of the nation for so long, that it eventually just acknowledged what it had become and formed the base of what we now refer to as the Institutional Party.

When other Parties launched in Kalistan, they usually launched as a protest to hegemonic Socialist Party rule.  Many often took advantage of the Socialist Party's occasional hiatuses to attempt serious change, but they would make radical changes only to see the Socialist Party return, re-establish itself, and rebuild the institutions that were damaged by these temporary Parties.  Non-Socialist Parties in Kalistan were eventually seen as Ephemeral, and measures were ultimately passed to protect Kalistan's institutions from the actions of these ephemeral Parties.  Despite these efforts, ephemeral Parties still formed and still served as a constant source of political turbulence.  The staunch defense of the Institutions by the Socialist Party guaranteed that every opposition Party was in essence committed to revolutionary change, without care for the role that the institutions they were seeking to alter played in the correct functioning of the society.  And it always led to political strife, disturbance and a low level disquiet across Kalistan that lasted the duration of the History of the Republic.

Kalistani Citizens have been free from the constant turmoil of political parties that only ever arrived with an agenda to change Kalistan's social and political arrangement since the end of plurality in Kalistan that followed the Single Party Act.  The Current Monarchical regime has been in place and has been regular for more than 150 years.  And the only examples of political conflict have come when groups demanding more political power have tried to force their way into a locked Kalistani Polity.  

The Institutional Party has had its share of corruption, but corrupt ministers and deputies have always been shown the door in a very transparent process.  Accountability strengthens the institutions of Kalistan's Polity.  And meanwhile, the people of Kalistan see clear lines across our society.  Some things the people completely control:  Kalistan has some of the strongest and most cherished civil liberties in Terra.  Though we are not a libertarian state as we may have been during the Republic, civil liberties and rights are enshrined in law and protected by an independent court structure that can hold even powerful state actors accountable for violating those rights.  They are generally happy not having to control things on the other side of the line, things like having to learn what every bill says, so they can responsibly and intelligently tell their legislators where they want them to vote regarding that bill.

We see that people have traded their desire to dominate others and to ruin society in the process through the political process for order.  Kalistanis are reminded daily of the benefits that order brings:  Trains run on time, people have a high and predictable standard of living with a robust social safety, civil liberties a strong economy, a strong national defense and a clean environment, all of which would be imperiled by a mere election, as it has consistently in the past.  Kalistani History, and especially political history is one of the most important subjects in Kalistani schools.  Kalistani citizens have a very complete knowledge of the dangers of opening this society up to democratic governance and pluralism:  We have historical examples of how democracy generates horrible results for the people of the nation.  

Three thousand years of bad example after bad example caused by the failures inherent in letting political novices who are more concerned with seizing and holding political power than actually governing justly for the good of all participate.  Said one poll respondent, "Democracy only promotes demagogues and inept government.  The law of central tendencies and median voter theorem are the inherent flaws of democracy, because these are easily exploited by people who are far more interested in obtaining power for themselves.  And when that happens, when the demagogue gets into power, the democracy is bent to legitimize them.  I'd rather not let majorities put a crook in charge, like I would rather deny them the chance to do that to me and my family and neighbors, just because that crook was particularly adept at saying the right things, even though he had no intention of doing them, and he brainwashed enough people into voting for him."  

As long as Kalistani History, which is littered with examples of the failure of democracy to produce good outcomes, continues to be taught in Kalistan, it is very unlikely that the people will ever support democracy.

Attitudes toward current Leadership
As mentioned above, the personalist and absolutist Ananto regime holds very high support within Kalistan.  Part of this is because there is a high level of trust that the Anantos have earned among the people.  Many respondents to the poll said they trust the Monarchy to do two main things:  Provide good government that generally advances the interests of the country and the people in it, and holding the government accountable, including accepting blame themselves when things don't turn out well.  Respondents reported that they were satisfied that the Monarchy does that, and are willing to overlook a lot of things that doesn't really affect the people anyway, such as Imperial Protocol and the massive amounts of wealth that House Ananto has accrued (especially since House Ananto accepts independent audits every year and published the audit report when it is completed.) 

Most people understand that the Legislature exists to bring constituent concerns to the attention of Government, rather than actually make any independent decisions themselves, and they seem fine with that as long as they know it provides them a regular voice in affairs of state.  Nearly all of those surveyed reported that they found their Deputies very approachable, and it is easy to vote them out when the Deputy stops representing the people of their constituency.  Deputies don't have to make a bunch of false promises to get elected:  Election cycles are very short and usually involve the population electing civic leaders who many of them know personally. 

And people in Kalistan generally think they themselves will get a fair trial if they find themselves in court, though there is still a significant amount of resentment over the trial of more than 1500 Likatonian War veterans for war crimes.  But even those who were strongly opposed to the trials admitted that, for the most part, they were fair and the defendants received due process.  And they believe that their representatives in the Legislature will generally support the interests of their constituents.

With this high level of trust in the activities and functions of the Government, Kalistanis would rather keep the generally good government that they have than swap it out for a system that they believe is far more likely to produce bad outcomes (because of the contested nature of politics) that only serve a small portion of the population.  Kalistanis not only have thousands of years of bad examples produced by democracy, but they also have their own, current lived experience under absolutist Government which has been generally good government that produces popular policy which is good for most of the society most of the time.  

Recent respondents to the poll demonstrated that its not just an instrumental appreciation for the benefits of the current regime.  People themselves actually report that they are proud of their government.  The institutions of the Kalistani Government are sources of pride for Kalistani Citizens, who repeatedly compare Kalistan favorably to even other absolutist nations.  "Our Government simply does what it is told to do," said one respondent.  "It gets stuff done.  If I need a pothole fixed, I know exactly who to call, and they have it repaired in an hour.  If the Emperor wants a new dam built, we have it done in two years.  I mean, why would I need to vote, and potentially lose a vote, in a democracy, and then have to put up with some stupid legislative fight over whether the pothole should be fixed or the dam be built or not?  Those things need to be done, and our government will do them:  there doesn't have to be a big debate about everything.  In this, Kalistan's system is obviously better, for us anyway, than a republic would be.  We get the things we need, like yesterday.  It's not a big deal.  But I am happy to talk it up to all these foreigners complaining about how they can't get good government under democracy."

Additionally, Kalistanis also trust that there is enough institutional protections against bad government.  "Ah, well, we might have good government now," said another respondent, who said she might be favorable toward some democracy.  "But they always ask what would happen if we had an Emperor who was totally incompetent or criminally minded.  Shouldn't we have some way of getting rid of him?  I mean, I like the idea of representing myself, but I think that if there is an incompetent one that person would have enough built around him or her so they could be essentially walled off until the next one came in.  But again:  I mean look at the system when we let just any idiot run for office?  Literally everyone we got was some idiot.  I'd take my chances with the Emperor before I take my chances with that kind of system.  Full democracies only produces idiots to be in control of the Government...  Like only..."

Examples of Current Democracies
In a fully digitized modern world, Kalistanis have access to news from around the world.  And they use those sources voraciously.  Most Kalistanis see The Republic, Kalistan's main news source, as somewhat biased toward the Government of Kalistan.  They do print some critical pieces, say most respondents, but tend to pull punches on negative stories, while leaning heavily into ones that put the State in a good light.  Hence more than 70% of them say they regularly read news from other nations, with Luthorian language sources being the plurality, but Egelion sources being a close second.  Others use the online translator to translate the articles into Vrassan.

And the news of the world more or less confirm the opinions of Kalistanis regarding democracy.  "Yeah, I mean, the fascists in Kundrati were elected in a 'fair' election," said one respondent, "and now look at them.  They don't even have elections anymore, and like the worst regime ever."  Even in instances where news about democracy is good, Kalistanis report largely waiting for "the other shoe" to drop:  "It's only a matter of time for a lot of these places," said one Kaliburg woman.

Furthermore, Kalistanis pay close attention to the dual effect of milquetoast state policy and popular democracy.  "Putting everything to a vote is such a waste of time," said one respondent.  "Oh, I'm the government of Baltusia.  I have decided to do something important that will benefit a lot of people.  Oh wait, here's an election.  Ok, now the other party won and we're gonna stop doing that thing immediately.  Not because it's not needed, but because the opposition party is now the government, and they were opposed to everything the outgoing party wanted to do."

Kalistanis see these democratic contests as clashes of visions.  "But you can't have two, polar opposite visions of the Good and they both be correct," said one respondent.  "Either one is good, or its opposite is good.  Both can't be good at the same time.  But these liberals talk all the time about letting them battle it out in the marketplace of ideas.  I say forget all that because you are more likely to get the one that is objectively bad in that situation than you should be, which is not at all.  The marketplace of ideas is a fraud anyway, because people don't have free choices in the marketplace of ideas:  they only get to consider the options presented to them, while pretending they actually control something."

Most Kalistanis will point at negative examples like the former Kundrati as evidence of democracy functioning perfectly as intended.  "I don't think the Legion people told the people what plans they had in store for them when they were running for office," said one Sulari respondent.  "They lied, like most politicians do in democratic nations, and presented their program as just slightly right of center, and after getting elected, proceeded immediately to build death camps and chemical weaponry.  I don't think the people voted for that.  But those who didn't keep supporting the government quickly found themselves in the death camps on some crazy crime the government invented to swell their population of slaves.  Talk about leopards eating your face."

Kundrati Mainland is not the only example Kalistanis could cite of democracy giving birth to its antithesis.  "If that's what Democracy leads to, no thank you," said one resident of Eshar.

Conclusion
There is almost no support for democracy in Kalistan on any level.  Nearly all respondents to several recent polls express deep and abiding support for the current Kalistani system of Government, and even suggest it is better than other models, most especially democracies.  Historic and current examples of the inherent weaknesses and the tendency toward poor outcomes, as well as a nearly universal support for the monarchy as an institution, ensures that there will not be any organic pro-democracy movements any time in the near future.

One respondent summed up their feeling:  "You could tell me tomorrow that the Emperor and his wife bathed in the blood of infants daily, and I think I would still support him.  As grisly as that thought is, I would rather have an emperor who bathes in baby blood than a system that is ever capable of producing some fascist like that country in Artania does.  The Emperor on his worst day is far preferable to me, and you know, everyone I know too, than a democracy on its best day, because democracy comes with risk of getting bad government far more often than not, and as a citizen who benefits from social order, that's a risk I don't ever want to even think about taking.  I'd rather go about my life and leave the policy to the people who know what they are doing."

His answer was similar to most respondents, even those who supported a measure of democracy, mostly at the local level.