On How the Pro-Independence Press Distorts an International Index on "Direct Democracy"

ProU Forum

On How the Pro-Independence Press Distorts an International Index on "Direct Democracy"

  On the 8th of January, "The Economist" published its annual "Democracy Index". Once again Spain was listed as one of just 20 full democracies in the world. This did not please the supporters of Catalan independence, owing to the fact that their claim for independence revolves around the idea that Spain is little short of a totalitarian country because it does not allow a referendum on the independence of Catalonia.

  In an attempt to invalidate "The Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index", "Nació Digital", an online news outlet, subsidised by the Government of Catalonia, in turn following a Catalan nationalistic and pro-independence editorial line, has published an article on the 17th of January with the aim to dismiss "The Economist" Index, by making questionable use of the "V-Dem Annual Democracy Report"; a report which has a high degree of complexity and is difficult for the layman to interpret.

  Although the article acknowledges that Spain is considered a democracy by the V-Dem Report as well, its focus is on misleading the reader, by emphasising Spain´s low ranking on a very specific political practice which is that of "Direct Democracy" (i.e. the practice of addressing direct consultations to the population) and comparing it to that of Turkey or Syria, all two countries scoring considerably higher on "Direct Democracy" than most full democracies, which simply comes to show that regimes which are hardly democratic if not full dictatorships hold "direct consultations" more often than most full democracies do.

  By doing so the reader is easily tricked into believing that the democratic quality of Spain is poorer than that of countries which are considered dictatorships or very imperfect democracies:

  More specifically the following are the ranked positions of different countries regarding "Direct Democracy" according to the aforementioned study:

1. Switzerland
13. Turkey
17. Venezuela

34. Syria
39. Holland
 55. UK
68. Spain
95. France
107. Sweden
125. Belgium
127. Norway
128. Canada
145. Germany
166. USA

  Visibly, most democratic countries are ranked below Turkey and Syria with respect to so called "Direct Democracy".

  "Direct Democracy" is by the way, neither cheap (Ireland had spent €133 m in the 15 referendums held this century so far) nor representative of democratic quality overall. 

  Irrespective of the above mentioned ranking, there exists a a lot of debate around the real democratic value of "Direct Democracy".    American political scientist and philosopher Jason Brennan says “With very few exceptions, almost every referendum asks more of the public than they can give (…)".   Brennan also states: "When we survey voters, we find that the overwhelming majority lack even the most basic information relevant to current political questions, let alone the social scientific knowledge needed to use that information.”   Brennan believes that for crucial and fundamental questions, we should ask parliament and representative democracy to do its job. 

  Nonetheless, Jason Brennan also considers that because cognitive demands raised by local issues are far lower and the stakes are more immediate; offering citizens more incentives to become better informed on immediate issues, holding referendums in order to decide on local questions, could be beneficial. 

  Catalonia´s regional government is criticising and questioning Spain over its supposed lack of democratic quality allegedly for not allowing a decision process based on "Direct Democracy" on the issue of the independence of its region (the sort of referendum on territorial integrity no other democratic country with a written constitution allows since they all - including the US and not only EU states - consider sovereignty of each part as belonging to the whole) , yet interestingly, the regional government of Catalonia (in charge of managing matters including: media, TV, language, education, health, police, local administration, social assistance and infrastructure) has full legal authority to offer "Direct Democracy" on most local matters and in particular those issues which Jason Brennan considers reasonable to resolve via local referendums, yet the Catalan government has systematically denied Catalan citizens the right to vote on decisions regarding rights of municipal secession, by neighbourhoods who request it. 

  For example, most of the citizens of Vallpineda, a neighbourhood of the city of Molins de Rei, and those of Bellaterra, a neighbourhood  of Cerdanyola, wish to secede and become part of the city of Sant Cugat, due to closer proximity. Such demands could be considered reasonable or at least subject to resolution via local consultation, yet the Catalan government has refused to authorise a formula based on so called "Direct Democracy" to resolve such issues.

  Sources:

• The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democratic Index
• The V-Dem Report
• The NewStateman
• La Vanguardia

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Open letter to the Financial times. Let's be clear

ProU Forum

    On January 4th of this year, The Financial Times published an article from "Omnium Cultural" - presented by OC as an "article by the FT"  titled "Spain's Chance At Proving Itself".  OC is a Catalan pro-independence organization.  

    

    In the mentioned article, "Omnium Cultural" puts forward its  opinion about the imprisonment of this association’s former president, Jordi Cuixart, and about the current political situation in Catalonia.

    

    Catalonia is one of 17 autonomous regions of Spain and as such enjoys full self-government in matters such as: police, education (entirely in Catalan), healthcare, social aid, public media and most of infraestructure.  Spain in turn is one of the most decentralized states in the world with over 75% of discretionary public spend under local and regional governments (vs. 25% under central government).

    

    The president of "Omnium Cultural" in September 2017 was Jordi Cuixart, now in prison, along with others, awaiting trial under accusation by the state justice system,  due to his alleged instrumental participation in the events prior to the (illegal) pro-independence referendum organized by the Catalan government on October 1st 2017, against orders from the Constitutional Court.  

    

    It is worth reminding that no democracy with a written constitution (nor in the EU nor the US), allows regionally-held referendums on the secession of any part of its territory, given that all consider the status of each part, as a matter concerning national or state sovereignty.  Much the less does any democracy consider unilateral action to achieve secession as anything short of illegal.  

    

    Omnium Cultural, who have received generous subsidies from the Catalan autonomous government (known as the “Generalitat”), presents Jordi Cuixart as a cultural figure; this is a dubious claim, for he is not known for any type of literary or artistic creation. He is an entrepreneur who has presided over the organization. His main objective has been to promote what in Catalonia has been called the "Procés", a plan designed to achieve the independence of Catalonia from Spain.

    

    Omnium Cultural was formed in 1961, during the dictatorship of General Franco (which began in 1939, at the end of the Spanish Civil War and lasted until his death in 1975). At the time of its creation, it was authorized by Franco, although it was closed two years later when suspicions were raised about possible political activities (no opposition political activity was allowed in Spain at the time and all parties were illegal).  Interestingly however  from 1967 onward Omnium Cultural, became legally active again.

    

    The article in the Financial Times insists on highlighting Franco's "brutal repression" of the Catalan language and culture. Although it is true that the Franco dictatorship banned the use of the Catalan language in official institutions, the Catalan continued to be spoken both in homes and on the street without any sort of legal persecution.  There were even literary prizes awarded in the Catalan language, including those granted by the Omnium Cultural itself. At the present time, the opposite seems to be happening: the Catalan government does not allow Castilian Spanish to be taught in equal basis to Catalan in the regional "public" (state) school network.

    

    Omnium Cultural has long ceased to be a cultural organization, and has become strictly political.  Since  2000 its actions have primarily focused on seeking independence such as when  it began organizing the "Freedom Festival" as well as numerous demonstrations calling for the independence of Catalonia.  The mentioned however is not the accusation against Mr. Cuixart.  The accusation is strictly on an alleged role in the organization of the illegally held referendum in coordination with the Catalan government, defying successive constitutional court orders.

    

    The text published by Omnium Cultural identifies Jordi Cuixart and other politicians in pre trial detention as "political prisoners". It explains that other politicians who held senior posts in the Catalan government had to flee to other countries on October 3rd 2017, as did former president Carles Puigdemont himself, in order to "protect themselves".

    

    The Catalan government had been warned on numerous occasions by the Constitutional Court, in writing, that their actions went against the Spanish Constitution.    Carles Puigdemont defiantly had himself photographed with five of the letters he received from the Constitutional Court, having declared that he would not "take a step back".  The point being that the issue is not about "political prisoners", but about politicians who have clearly acted against the Spanish Constitution, the Catalan regional constitution (the "Estatut") and against the legal advice officially expressed by the Catalan parliament´s  legal council itself.  The defendants are therefore in prison awaiting trial which will start shortly, since the prosecution believes the reasons for preventive imprisonment  apply (e.g. risks of; escape, reincidence, destruction of proof).

    

    It is useful to remind that on September 6th and 7th 2017, the Catalan government used its parliamentary majority (although lacking an electoral majority in Catalonia itself) to unilaterally pass a law of "disconnection" with both the Spanish and the Catalan regional constitutions, in what would be considered a clear act of illegality in any constitutional democracy.  It´s also worth reminding that  successive Catalan pro-independence governments have achieved no electoral mandate to behave in such unilateral manners (even if illegally), given that up to 4 regional elections have been held in the last 6 years, with none resulting in more than 48% of votes going to pro-independence parties. 

    

    Spain is one of the best scoring* democracies in Europe according to various international sources. The Spanish Constitution has just turned forty. During this period Spain has had to overcome serious problems, such as an attempted military coup in 1981 and  the terrorism of ETA (a Basque violent pro-independence movement).  Spain's institutions are democratic, as are the Catalan government and parliament, enjoying one of the highest degrees of self-government in Europe.

    

    

    *The Democracy Index 2018 of The Economist Intelligence Unit places Spain among the twenty full democracies in the world.

    

    The EU has mechanisms in place in order to act when and if abuses by the executive branch over the judiciary take place in any member state, as has been the case recently in specific Eastern European states.    At present there seems to be no indication that the allegations by Omnium Cultural have any factual basis in the case of Spain.

    

    It is my belief that it is the responsibility of respected and influential media to safeguard western democracies, by not fanning the flames of the sort of nationalist populism, which is afflicting many of the most liberal, democratic countries and guarantors of freedom and justice, in the entire World.

    

    Yours Faithfully,

    

    Joaquim Pujol

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