Civil society; democracy’s oxygen

15 September marks the UN International Day of Democracy, a day on which Governments are encouraged to strengthen national programmes devoted to the promotion and consolidation of democracy. The UN General Assembly resolution establishing the day encourages all member states to bring the day to the awareness of their citizens.

The resolution also reaffirms the view of the UN General Assembly, where all UN member nations are represented, that “democracy is a universal value based on the freely expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their lives” and that “while democracies share common features, there is no single model.”

You’ll already be aware that my country, the United Kingdom, has a very different model of democracy to the political model found in Cuba. According to its constitution, Cuba is a ‘socialist State of workers, independent and sovereign, organized with all and for the good of all, as a united, democratic republic, for the enjoyment of political freedom, social justice, individual and collective welfare, and human solidarity.’ Its ‘press, radio, television, movies and other organs of the mass media are State or social property’ which ‘assures their use at the exclusive service of the working people and in the interest of society’. The President of the Council of State is the Head of Government and the Communist Party is the only political party.

The United Kingdom on the other hand has no single written constitutional document but a constitution defined by laws, legal judgements, parliamentary conventions and treaties. These stretch back over 800 years and include the Magna Carta, signed in 1215, the Bill of Rights (1689) that secures parliamentary supremacy over the monarch, the Acts of Union of 1706 and 1707 that unite Scotland and England and the recent Fixed-Term Parliaments Act that fix the term of parliament to every five years. In parliamentary elections many political parties compete for seats – there were more than 60 parties in the 2015 general election – and the government is formed by the political party or parties with a majority of seats in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister or Head of Government will normally be the leader of the biggest party. The monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, is the Head of State – her powers are restricted by the terms of the constitution so the UK is considered a ‘constitutional monarchy’. This is all very different to Cuba.

Another distinction is that in the United Kingdom, media organs such as newspapers, radio stations or TV channels can be, and are, owned by private companies, organisations or individuals. And there is a flourishing, non-governmental sector made up of tens of thousands of sometimes small, sometimes large organisations which provide services, organise events, hold the government accountable and much more. These groups are often referred to as ‘civil society’, a concept that my colleague Rob Fenn, Head of the FCO’s Human Rights and Democracy Department, helpfully breaks down in his blog. He says: ‘If civil society were a cake, then the ingredients would be public will, democracy, freedom of speech, voluntary work, charities, neighbourhood schemes, international bodies such as the United Nations or the Red Cross, religious organisations, and NGOs, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch etc.’

This year the theme of the International Day for Democracy is ‘Space for Civil Society’. As the relevant UN web-page notes: “The hallmark of successful and stable democracies is the presence of a strong and freely operating civil society – in which Government and civil society work together for common goals for a better future, and at the same time, civil society helps keep Government accountable.”

That is something I am sure we can all agree to. Even Winston Churchill who famously said, “Democracy is the worst form of government…except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time!”