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https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/54037
Title: | Democracy : from theory to dictatorial dyspraxia to anarchist eupraxia |
Authors: | Vella, Mary Grace |
Keywords: | Democracy Dictatorship Political corruption Racketeering Anarchism |
Issue Date: | 2020 |
Publisher: | University of Malta. Junior College |
Citation: | Vella, M. G. (2020). Democracy : from theory to dictatorial dyspraxia to anarchist eupraxia. Symposia Melitensia, 16, 287-298. |
Abstract: | In theory: Democracy is the “rule of the people by the people and for the people” (Lincoln, 1863). In practice: “Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few” (Shaw, 1903). This paper addresses the gap between democratic theory and practice by attempting to analyse “democracy’s crisis of meaning” (Trend, 1996:7). It examines the processes through which the theoretical ideal of rule by the people is despoiled to dictatorial practices, typified by regimes of democratic dictatorship arising from the authoritarian rule of representative forms of democracy resulting in the tyranny of the powerful, to regimes of dictatorial democracy arising from the totalitarian rule of global neo-liberal capitalism. These contradictions indeed suggest “more than a simple gap between theory and practice” (Trend, 1996:9) and demand a new praxis for democracy. Despite the hegemonic dyspraxia of these kleptocratic and corporatocratic regimes on both a local and global level, the eupraxia of anarchism through co-operative forms of self-governance offers a glimpse of hope for democratising democracy by closing the gap between theory and practice. |
URI: | https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/54037 |
Appears in Collections: | Scholarly Works - FacEduES Scholarly Works - FacSoWCri Scholarly Works - JCSOK SymMel, 2019, Volume 16 SymMel, 2020, Volume 16 |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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27 Mary Grace Vella 287-298.pdf | 246.71 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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