Democracy is Destiny, or Vice Versa?

Destined for Democracy? Labour Markets and Political Change in Colonial British America


Elena Nikolova
British Journal of Political Science, forthcoming

Abstract: In this article a new explanation for the emergence of democratic institutions is proposed: elites may extend the right to vote to the masses in order to attract migrant workers. It is argued that representative assemblies serve as a commitment device for any promises made to labourers by those in power, and the argument is tested on a new political and economic dataset from the thirteen British American colonies. The results suggest that colonies that relied on white migrant labour, rather than slaves, had better representative institutions. These findings are not driven by alternative factors identified in the literature, such as inequality or initial conditions, and survive a battery of validity checks.

Nod to Kevin Lewis

LPNC Keynote Speech

Thanks to "intrmntuvdeth" for posting this video of my keynote address at the Libertarian National Convention of May, 2008.  Here is the complete version (30 minutes LOOOONG).


And here is the "music video" version.  Under 5 minutes.

Democracy: C.S. Lewis

Wow.  A very cool post on C.S. Lewis and democracy.  An excerpt:

And in a letter to Dan Tucker of the Chicago American dated December 8, 1959, he has biting words on democracy, in general. 

"A hundred years ago we all thought that Democracy was it. Neither you nor I probably think so now. It neither allows the ordinary man to control legislation nor qualifies him to do so. The real questions are imaginary issues. And this is all the easier because democracy always in the end destroys education."

A nod to J.C.  Nice catch!

Asked and Answered

So, LeBron asks (as always) a good question, in this post.  "How might democracy disappear?"

But I think there may be an answer, here, from my guy W.E. English.

What do YOU think?

The Dark Enlightenment

A 10-part series, by Nick Land:  On "Dark Enlightenment."  (I've linked to Matt Leslie's presentation of it, which is where I found it, and also because the original links don't work, it seems.)

Long, complicated, interesting.  Basic question:  Is democracy simply incompatible with individual liberty?  Not in tension with, mind you.  Incompatible.  You may know "Dark Enlightenment" from Mencius Moldbug, of course. See also "Left Singularity."

with thanks to Jeremy B.

News Tip on Bev Perdue

My thoughts on Bev Perdue's announcement today....

Three possibilities here. One is that this is engineered to make way for Dan Blue, the African-American state senator from Wake County. Perdue waited until now to make it harder for anyone else to enter the race. The fact that the primary is on the same day as the Constitutional Amendment on gay marriage assures a large black turnout. This could be the difference to get Dan Blue the nomination.

The second possibility--Interesting that Brad Miller pulled out of the District 4 fight with David Price yesterday. Could that timing mean something?

The final possibility, and the most likely, is this: just typical chaos and confusion in politics, and no one should read too much into the timing. Dr. Perdue was just too much of a liability in an important swing state, and the national party sent some senior folks to tell her to spend more time with her grandchildren.

Will Wilkinson: Democracy in America

Will Wilkinson from his blog at The Economist. He substantially improves the argument about indulgences that I made a few days ago. (Link to my op ed)

What we need to recognize is that prosperity needs stability, predictability, and optimism. But political success requires chaos, confusion, and fear.

Right now, the Republicans seem to be winning parts of the "You should be afraid! Very, very afraid!" race.

But BOTH sides win from telling you, "We can save you! Send money!"

Maybe This Time

Usually, when I think something is a turning point, it turns out to be a high water mark. Sort of like how Woodstock was not a fundamental step forward in hippie culture, but its never-to-be-repeated apotheosis, after which a lot of boomers starting to go bald (even the women) and get jobs as I-bankers and stockbrokers.

So, with that caveat, let me offer this piece by KPC pal Dave Weigel as a turning point, something we may look back and remember as a start, not an end.

This rant was the start, in some ways, of the organized Tea Party movement. This article by Weigel was basically the end of my campaign, though that wasn't Dave's fault. Beginnings or ends... who can tell, at the time?

Thus it is with the #FuckYouWashington hashtag, and American Elect. The question is whether the idea for a "real" third party (LP is apparently chopped liver?) will catch on. Dave is absolutely right, of course, that electing a President would do very little. Except that it would do a lot. Veto points only work if MCs have the juevos to block stuff. And pretty much none of the MCs have juevos.

(Nod to Brendan Nyhan, or rather @brendannyhan, for the link)

Cross Talk: Arab Spring?

Alon Ben-Meir, Daniel Pipes, and I were on Cross-Talk.

Representin' Public Choice

Interesting.

Why Muslims like democracy yet have so little of it

Robbert Maseland & André van Hoorn
Public Choice, June 2011, Pages 481-496

Abstract: This paper explains the observed combination of relatively low levels of
democracy and positive attitudes towards it in the Muslim world. It argues that this democracy paradox is understandable from the perspective of the principle of diminishing marginal utility: people value highly that of which they have little. This reasoning implies, however, that surveys like the World Values Surveys (WVS) elicit circumstance-driven marginal preferences rather than culturally determined attitudinal traits. Empirical evidence showing that individuals living in undemocratic societies have much more favorable inclinations towards democracy supports our argument.

(Nod to Kevin Lewis)

Public Choice, fool. You better recognize.

Razing Arizona

Cute. The lefties in Arizona don't actually believe in "democracy" after all. As soon as they are in the minority, they become big "stop tyranny of the majority!" boosters. They even want to secede, and create their own little Atlantis in the Desert, presumably led by John Gulch.

For Pima County to actually become its own state:
• Pima residents would have to approve of the move in a referendum.
• The state legislature would have to approve of it, or it could pass in a state- wide referendum.
• The United States Congress would have to approve it.

The secession movement will almost certainly overcome zero of these three hurdles. But let's say that it did. This new "Baja Arizona" would be larger than Rhode Island, Delaware, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and it would have a greater population than Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, and the Dakotas. It would probably boast two Democratic senators (which is one of many reasons why this would never get through Congress). And the state motto would be, "Arizona: Now With 70 Percent Less Crazy!" or "Phew, Glad That's Over."

(Nod to Anonyman)

Blame Republicans? REALLY?

I am happy to blame the Republicans for a lot of bad things, ranging from elective wars to astonishing hypocrisy about taxes and deficits.

But the government shutdown? The idiot Dems didn't have the juevos to pass a budget when they controlled every branch of government. The idea that "We'll get back to you" is a budget shows you just how inept and corrupt the Dems have become.

Nick G has some more.

(Nod to Angry Alex)

Iran Radio Interview

Yesterday I did an interview with one of Iran's state-run media outlets, IRNA.

They are clearly pursuing the angle that Angus mentions below.

The line: Iran was first to overthrow American puppet government, in 1979. Rest of Arab world finally catching up, should acknowledge Persian/Shi'a leadership. In other words, Shah=Mubarak=etc.

Wow. Balls, that does take. Impressive. I can imagine some guys sitting around arguing about how to pitch this. Somebody comes up with the "Iran leads toward democracy and overthrow of Great Satan" bit. They all laugh, "No, that's too stupid. We oppress our own people." Then they look at each other..."Ya know, it could work! And it will be hilarious to hear the Americans sputter."

Mappage!

Very cool map of US political history, by my boy D. Sparks.
His description of what's going on, on his web page.

Dems at Defcon 1

Interesting article (read the update, too!).

The gist is that most early voters are registered Dems, which I have heard also, and thought strange. BUT.... Dem Party internal polls show that these early voting "Dems" are overwhelmingly voting Republican, in some cases nearly straight ticket Republican.

Hence, DemCon 1.

(Nod to the Blonde)

All We Are Saying....

...is give "No Prez" a chance!

In the Land of Real Sucking, Those Who Only Kind of Suck Will Win

Let's not forget, the Republicans do in fact suck. But they only kind of suck, so they will win big in November.

Nod to Angry ALex

.

Obama explains the upcoming election, take 2

I guess the "blame it on the Supremes" balloon wasn't flying, because now the President is blaming the upcoming election results on evolutionary biology!

Really:

"People out there are still hurting very badly, and they are still scared. And so part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now, and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time, is because we're hard-wired not to always think clearly when we're scared," Obama said at a Democratic fundraiser Saturday in Boston. "And the country is scared, and they have good reason to be."

Man, that is a bodacious line of argument, innit?

Here is what Obama should say:

We won near-historic majorities in 2008 and history shows that those kinds of gains are almost always eroded in the following mid-term. Plus, despite our best efforts, the economy hasn't recovered quickly and historically voters will blame my Party for that.

But don't be fooled my friends, the Republicans are the same duplicitous, ignorant, venal, clowns you correctly threw out in 2006 and 2008, and if these historical forces put them back in now, they will be gone again by 2012!

The 2010 election will be just an inconvenient blip in the road to a progressive America.

KPC readers, what do you think?