I am one of those who maintain that the problems of democracy can be solved with more democracy. But it must be a good democracy, otherwise, we’re screwed.
Individualism, arrogance, competition, ambition, selfishness, idleness, and over-ideologisation of the extremes are today a characteristic of those who come to occupy positions of power. The immediate consequence is a lack of empathy and the distance and disconnection between citizens and those they represent. We are facing a weak democracy that needs to be strengthened.
To validate this assertion, it is enough to look at our recent history in constitutional matters. In 2020, 78% of the population voted in favor of constitutional change; however, the two proposals submitted to a vote in September 2022 and December 2023 were categorically rejected because they were an ideological expression of those who controlled the process on each occasion, far from the feelings of the citizens.
We screwed ourselves and stayed with Pinochet’s Constitution and its reforms of 1989 (Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia) and 2005 (President Ricardo Lagos). We missed the opportunity to modernize our Constitution to the reality of our times.
The citizenry’s weariness is not with politics, it is a weariness with politicians who time and again reach positions of power and believe they have the right to do as they please. They act as the saying goes: “The ball is mine and I’ll take it home”. They do so with impunity because we still have a weak institutional framework, without all the counterweights necessary for proper democratic functioning and without an ethical social pact that goes beyond the laws.
It is of great civic and, above all, pedagogical interest to read CIPER’s interview with María Inés Horvitz, who resigned from the State Defence Council after 33 years, the last 17 as a councillor. Her honesty and clarity in exposing the institutional problems of our country are admirable, along with her consequence for leaving a position for life with 12 years left to reach retirement age because she did not share what was happening in the CDE.
Every day it becomes more evident that our country’s elite is driven by its own self-interest derived from ambition, selfishness, and abandoning the pursuit of the common good. In the words of Horvitz: “The co-optation of the state by de facto powers linked by cradle, politics and money is increasingly visible”. In the course of the interview, she gives enough examples to back up her assertion.
If we separate the wheat from the chaff and look back to October 2019, the social demands with violent expressions and also the nonviolent and massive peaceful demonstrations remain in our minds. Four years have passed and we are back to square one, now with tiredness, frustration and weariness. In short, we are screwed.
