{"id":157219,"date":"2016-02-09T11:44:40","date_gmt":"2016-02-09T06:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=157219"},"modified":"2016-02-13T14:07:06","modified_gmt":"2016-02-13T08:37:06","slug":"constitution-making-strengthening-horizontal-democracy-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/constitution-making-strengthening-horizontal-democracy-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Constitution Making & Strengthening Horizontal Democracy – Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Laksiri Fernando<\/span><\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/a>

Dr. Laksiri Fernando<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe force of free people resides in the municipality<\/em>\u201d – Alexis de Tocqueville<\/p>\n

The move for making a New Constitution has opened up considerable opportunities to deepen democracy in the country, and the indications so far reveal that vibrant discussions are taking place at present, among civil society organizations and political activists, sponsored by the Public Representation Committee (PRC), on a range of issues dealing particularly with (1) the local government system, (2) the creation of possible village\/local level organizations, and (3) on how to encourage people\u2019s participation in decision making processes, among other matters.<\/p>\n

To the credit of the PRC and the promoters of a New Constitution it should be stated that such broader discussions were not held, or could not be held, during the formulation of the First or the Second Republican Constitutions in 1972 and 1978, or the aborted draft constitution in 2000. Apart from the necessary constitutional requirement to have a national referendum to finally approve a New Constitution (Article 83), the nature of the political changes that took place last year (8 January and 17 August), and the democratic political forces behind them, seem to be the catalysts for what is going on in the form of broad political discussions.<\/p>\n

This article argues that to deepen democracy in Sri Lanka, or any country for that matter, measures need to be taken both horizontally and vertically. If provincial councils could be the main mechanisms through which democracy could be expanded horizontally, local governments constitute the potential of strengthening democracy both horizontally and vertically.<\/p>\n

The Concept<\/strong><\/p>\n

Horizontal democracy is conceptualized by political scientists and others in different ways at different times. It is usually considered as opposite or different to vertical democracy. \u2018Different\u2019 may be the case, but \u2018opposite\u2019 is an overstatement. There is no system completely vertical or completely horizontal. The right combination of both might be the best for any country.<\/p>\n

In the evolution or development of democracy, there is a natural requirement to move away from a single (top down or bottom up) vertical structure towards more and more horizontal structures and practices. Representative democracy requires multiple formations and institutions created on the spatial scale. In the case of Sri Lanka, the provincial councils and local governments are the main formal institutions of horizontal democracy and from time to time the organizations or concepts such as \u2018Gramodaya Mandala<\/em>\u2019 (village awakening councils), \u2018Jana Sabha<\/em>\u2019 (people\u2019s councils) and now \u2018Grama Sabha<\/em>\u2019 have been mooted for the same purposes.<\/p>\n

Vertical versus horizontal modularity in political science is largely analogous to the same debates in cognitive science (about the mind and its processes) as S. L. Hurley initially explained in 1999, writing to the \u201cJournal of Political Philosophy<\/em>.\u201d The full title of the article is \u201cRationality, democracy and leaky boundaries: Vertical vs. horizontal modularity,\u201d for the benefit of anyone interested in reading. For a long time, there was a strong belief that \u2018rationality of mind\u2019 is a product of vertical cognition. Likewise political philosophers believed that the only rational system of democracy is a vertically designed single structure of democracy. The British Utilitarianism (i.e. Jeremy Bentham) was a high point in this belief in political philosophy.<\/p>\n

In an extreme version of this belief, even \u2018checks and balances\u2019 were rejected or discarded as irrational. In the case of Sri Lanka, the strongest reflection of this vertical thinking was embodied in the 1972 Constitution, and then continued in the 1978, until the 13th Amendment came in. In the 1972 Constitution, checks and balances were minimized and unicameral legislature with the concept of \u2018supremacy of parliament\u2019 was instituted. It was a unitary state par excellence<\/em>. It was also the opposite of liberal constitutionalism.<\/p>\n

In modern cognitive science, however, rationality of mind is not considered purely based on vertical modularity. It can depend on horizontal modularity as well. People may depend on lateral or parallel ways of reasoning to arrive at rational decisions and solutions to problems that they encounter. The concept of \u2018lateral thinking\u2019 developed by Edward de Bono has been a recognition of this understanding. It allows people to think \u2018out of the box\u2019 in finding solutions to their seemingly intractable problems.<\/p>\n

In the same manner, there is the possibility of designing political structures to address complex social, economic, cultural and political problems through lateral or horizontal institutions. This means that within an overall \u2018pyramid,\u2019 installing smaller pyramids to countervail the authoritarian tendencies of otherwise a centralized structure. Any representative democracy takes the form of a pyramid. However, the smaller pyramids are much closer to the people; to their needs and aspirations. This has always been the case in history, although the strict Westphalian form of the state in the past period has kept a tight lid on the possibility until recently.<\/p>\n

Some Roots<\/strong><\/p>\n

In political practice, the existence of horizontal structures or demand for them has always been the case even before the advent of modern democracy. The ancient political systems in many Asian countries including Sri Lanka were systems of \u2018Mandal<\/em>a,\u2019 which consisted of a \u2018Manda<\/em>\u2019 (a Centre) and a \u2018La<\/em>\u2019 (a Periphery). The \u2018La<\/em>\u2019 was equally important as the \u2018Manda<\/em>.\u2019 \u2018Panchayath<\/em>\u2019 in India, and \u2018Gam Sabha<\/em>\u2019 (village councils) in Sri Lanka were the local varieties under this system.<\/p>\n

During the English revolutions in the 17th century, there were strong demands for horizontal democracy. \u2018Levelers\u2019 and \u2018Diggers\u2019 were the main advocates of these demands. Thereafter, the \u2018Chartists\u2019 carried forward these demands into the 19th century. The development of British \u2018County Councils\u2019 was greatly shaped by these movements and in turn influenced the local government system installed in Sri Lanka. What can be seen in the present system in Sri Lanka is the congruence between the ancient tradition and the British influence.<\/p>\n

There were radical roots for the demand for more grassroots forms of horizontal democracy. Apart from the emergence of spontaneous people\u2019s councils in the American, the French or the Russian revolutions, Hannah Ardent has conceptualized a \u2018council system\u2019 based particularly on the experiences of the democracy movements that emerged in the Eastern European countries against totalitarianism. She first developed the idea in \u201cThe Origins of Totalitarianism<\/em>\u201d (1958) and then elaborated the concept in her \u201cOn Revolution<\/em>\u201d (1963), particularly in the last chapter. This is what she said initially.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Hungary, we have seen the simultaneous setting-up of all kinds of councils, each of them corresponding to a previous existing group in which people habitually lived together or met regularly and knew each other. Thus the neighborhood councils emerged from sheer living together and grew into county and other territorial councils\u2026.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Leslie Goonewardene of the LSSP was one who advocated such structures for Sri Lanka particularly in the late 1970s (i.e. \u201cA New Road is Needed<\/em>\u201d).<\/p>\n

There were\/are more militant (or extremist) versions of the thinking however. In recent times in the international arena, the term \u2018horizontal democracy\u2019 has surfaced in another meaning, more of political than institutional. It has been a popular slogan in the recent waves of democratic uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa (the \u2018Arab Springs\u2019). For example, a leader of the Tunisian uprising, Yassine Brahim (now a Minister!), had said \u201cWe don\u2019t need a charismatic leader. This is horizontal democracy. We are going to leverage social media to build horizontal democracy rather than a vertical democracy.\u201d According to him, the social media is supposedly playing a role in horizontal democracy movements.<\/p>\n

This sentiment has again and again resonated in other countries which took to the path of democratization or chaos. It could only be understood as reactive to a situation where the existing system was highly centralized and strictly vertical. Thus a more moderate view on horizontal democracy is necessary in my opinion.<\/p>\n

Useful Principles<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are two main principles which are usually discussed and\/or used in strengthening horizontal democracy. The first is devolution of power which we are familiar with. This means the relocation or transfer of (some) powers to a second tier of governmental institutions through the constitution. It can also go to a third tier. Depending on the amount of power allocation, degree of financial independence and more importantly the constitutional safeguards, the devolution of power can come closer even to federalism.<\/p>\n

The second is the principle of subsidiarity which we are not very familiar with or often misunderstood. In its pure form, this is a radical principle which gives primacy to the lowest level of governing institutions i.e. local government. Tocqueville\u2019s saying \u201cthe force of free people resides in the municipality\u201d is often quoted as its explication. The principle says that \u2018whatever the local government can handle should be left with the local government system.\u2019 And only the rest should go to the provinces, and so on.<\/p>\n

It may be true that within a context of constitutional making in Sri Lanka, at present, the subsidiarity principle might not be practical in its full sense. However, it can be kept in mind (or used) both in allocating powers to the provincial councils and local government institutions, however realistically assessing their capacities and other consequences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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