Why democracy needs morality
#307
Friends of Democracy,
Why are people interested in politics?
At least when it comes to the question of why we vote, the Homo Economicus in us comes up with clear advice: Don't do it. Don't vote. Stay at home. The cost-benefit relationship looks bad, especially when you consider that it takes quite a while to form a political opinion.
In elections, the individual vote almost always has no weight. Therefore, from a personal perspective, it makes no difference whether someone votes or not. It simply doesn't change the outcome.
But why do so many people still vote? At least in Germany. At least in federal elections. Last Sunday, 82.5 per cent of all eligible voters did so. A pretty good figure, right?
Democracy is alive, you could say.
Again, why do people vote even though their vote has no weight?
There is a simple answer.
In addition to the rational calculation ("There's no point in voting"), there is a social expectation ("Voting is a civic duty"). Individualism is accompanied by a moral expectation.
That is needed in democracy.
Because elections face a dilemma that cannot be overcome without morality. From an individual point of view, voting - as I said - makes little sense, but if everyone acts this way, the will of the voters will never be reflected in politics. But that is what democracy lives on. That people vote for the parties and politicians whose political offerings are closest to their preferences.
The appeal to honour that good democrats always go to the ballots is, therefore, a necessary condition for democracy to function. P Only then will those politicians be elected to office and parliaments whom the voters want. If people only were to follow their individual rational calculations, then they would not vote and democracy would erode.
Then Julia Schneider, the Green Party's top candidate and winner in my constituency in Berlin, would not be in the next Bundestag. It would be - I saw and listened to her at the party's election party Sunday evening - a loss for democracy, I guess.
See you in Germany,
Johannes Eber