Manifesto for a Radical Democracy

This text is a fragment from 'Manifest for a Radical Democracy' (Deusto), by Jordi Sevilla

Two challenges threaten the survival of humanity as we have known it so far: ecological catastrophe and artificial intelligence. Both are the consequence of human actions driven by the pursuit of private enrichment. Capitalism, as we have known it, in its neoliberal version, has proven to have predatory effects on the planet, destructive for the human race. It likewise generates levels of inequality and other social gaps that are incompatible with the democratic political system. 

We lack effective instruments to confront either of these two global challenges, to which we can only oppose voluntary commitments from nation states, which are useless, given their size and functions, for this challenge that overwhelms them.

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There is thus an urgent need for a paradigm shift in the practical instrumentalisation of political action, understood not as the pursuit of power, but as one that aims to solve citizens’ problems. At various levels: broadening national democracy; creating a constitution and a system of global governance; changing the objectives of the economic system towards something similar to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and reforming selfish capitalism towards what is being called stakeholder capitalism, with purposeful companies concerned with a positive social and natural impact of their actions, willing to comply with the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, and an enterprising and protective state that makes efficiency and data the centrepiece of its policies.

A change that requires revisiting the old dichotomies between public and private, between individual and collective, or between left and right, because all options must now be aligned within the framework of shared responsibilities.

Without an Earth Constitution and a system of global governance based on the principles of radical democracy from an economic system with aligned social purpose, it will be impossible to successfully address the threats of climate change and artificial intelligence, human rights violations, or the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

I call all this Radical Democracy, which is increasingly seen, not only as the best of the possible alternatives for coexistence in and among plural and diverse societies but also, increasingly, as the only real option in the face of the chaos that hangs over our heads.

I defend a radical democracy, in the sense of going to the root. An aspirational proposal that leads us to strengthen the current mechanisms, deteriorated by populism, and to move towards a wider and deeper, but also more demanding, democracy. A complex democracy that begins by defending a radical application of what constitutes its constituent principles:

As Much Real Freedom as Possible

Because without freedom there is no democracy, freedom as a right of citizenship. Not only equal political rights, but also equal access to a basic package of social rights. Freedom to carry out the life project of one’s choice and with whom one chooses, which requires guaranteeing the material conditions to make this possible, among others, a basic citizenship income that, although not linked to the level of income, helps to reorganise the tax system and social transfers.

As Much Effective Equality as Necessary

It is necessary to deepen equal opportunity policies by introducing discriminations that favour the poorest but disadvantage the richest (through inheritance and wealth taxes). None of this contradicts the demand for personal effort and responsibility, which can only be ethically enforceable on the basis of (greater) equality in the starting conditions.

Nor can we lose sight of a certain equality of performance that avoids extreme and unjustifiable situations of unequal pay or wealth that are not attributable exclusively to effort, personal talent, or luck but are a consequence of one’s place in society and the specific rights that derive from these privileged positions.

With New Formulas for Social Participation

Let us try formulas such as open government, or civic space, an enabling environment for civil society to play an active role in political, economic, and social life. For this to be possible, basic civil rights, such as freedom of expression, association, and assembly, must function without restrictions.

Democracies can thus put in place a new institutional fabric that complements representative bodies, allowing citizens to have less reason to distrust their governments and, moreover, to be more successful in defining responses to new challenges.

With a Feminist Approach

Without democracy there is no feminism and without feminism there is no radical democracy. A radical democracy is a society of equals, in which no one enjoys privileges on the basis of birth, sex, race, religion, or belief and in which sex does not determine a compulsory, immutable social role.

Radical democracy is either feminist for 99% of the world’s population or it will not be.

And Broadening Economic Democracy

There is still plenty of scope for finding ways to broaden and deepen democracy in the economic sphere. One vector of democratisation in companies is the consolidation of what is known as the stakeholder company, which is obliged to involve not only workers but also customers and suppliers in its management. 

With a Transnational and Planetary Vision

We have to pass the screen, extending democracy on an international scale in order to fully address global issues. There are global values, principles, and realities that cannot be parcelled out within national borders, so radical democracy must be expanded to reach the necessary and urgent global dimension.

We need a paradigm shift that deepens the values of democracy and makes them effectively global, applicable to the whole species as a mega-identity that includes us all in the same team. Believe in and apply human rights, starting with a profound revision of the relations between us and the planet.