A democracy that works for all its peoples is dependent on access to universal, reliable and honest information.
Democracy can sometimes be little more than an empty slogan. It refers only to the kind of political system we live within. We find it hard to imagine any other system. At other times, however, it can have real bite. We might recognise that our democratic institutions are frail or open to manipulation and wonder anxiously how to ensure democracy. Certainly, today we face challenges to democracy.
TRUST REQUIRED
Elections rely on citizens being well informed of the decisions they will make and on trusting one another even if they differ. Now they face new challenges posed by fake images, false information, and violent outbursts on social media. Inequality and pressure on government finances, too, can create anxiety and disengagement within the community. In these conditions people are susceptible to campaigns based on dividing the nation and focusing hostility on minority groups and to unjustifiable promises of painless reform.
The success of authoritarian and populist candidates around the world explains why the theme of the UN International Day of Democracy (15 September) focuses on the future generations. They have no experience of authoritarian and polarised government and may take democracy for granted.
Democracy demands of us more than casting votes every few years for our federal, state and local governments. It means taking an intelligent part in discussing the values that our governments should pursue and the decisions that they must take. It also means being free to advocate and organise for good policies.
GOOD OF THE NATION
In a functional democracy we can be confident that we are consulted and represented in the making of government decisions. We can demand, too, that our government look to the good of the nation and its most vulnerable citizens and not to the interests of its own supporters. We may rightly wish to stand proudly under our flag. If we do so, however, our pride will lie in the ideals for which we have fought and also in the people and events which have embodied them. If the flag is taken to represent the way in which democracy is realised in any time and place, it will always be tatty. It should lead us not to boast but to strive to make our nation more democratic.
To ensure the health of democracy, the theme of the International Day for Universal Access to Information (28 September) is central.
RESPECT FOR TRUTH
There must be a culture of respect for the truth. Any government that claims to represent the people must be transparent and allow its officers to be held to account. In making decisions it must share with the people information about the situation that they address and the reasons for acting as it does. The information that it provides must also be truthful. Democracy flourishes only when there if respect for truth both in government and in the governed.
If false facts, rumour spreading and misleading spin flourish and are decisive in winning office, governance is not democratic but partisan. The growth of social media, the filtering of information through algorithms and the increasing reliance on Artificial Intelligence all increase the challenge to democracy.
Governments will always be economic with the truth and try to conceal information that might embarrass them. The more serious signs of corruption of democracy are found when government ministers lie outright, fail to resign and introduce legislation that criminalises the revelation of discreditable behaviour by government.
PROTEST
When truth is of no account and silence about wrongdoing is imposed, democracy is seriously wounded. These breaches are something against which we all ought protest.
The light of truth is the cure that will drive out darkness and the beasties that crawl in it. That is why the sharing of information is so important for democracy.
Fr Andrew Hamilton SJ is an editorial consultant at Jesuit Communications
