Sovereign democracy

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Sovereign democracy (Russian - суверенная демократия) is a term that was first used by Vladislav Surkov on the 22nd of February 2006 in a speech before the a gathering of the Russian political party United Russia^[1]. According to Surkov, sovereign democracy is:

a society's political life where the political powers, their authorities and decisions are decided and controlled by a diverse Russian nation for the purpose of reaching material welfare, freedom and fairness by all citizens, social groups and nationalities, by the people that formed it.^[2]

This term was used thereafter by political figureheads such as Sergei Ivanov, Vladimir Putin, and Boris Gryzlov

Sovereign Democracy in Russia was realised in the form of a Dominant-party system which was put into place in 2007 when as a result of the Russian legislative election of 2007 the political party United Russia, headed by president Vladimir Putin, without forming a government, formally became the leading and guiding force of all of Russian society, not unlike the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Concrete priorities and orientations of Sovereign Democracy were conceptionalized in President Putin's Plan

The term "Sovereign Democracy" was critiqued as far-fetched and meaningless by Dmitry Medvedev, Mikhail Gorbachev, Mikhail Kasyanov, and by

several foreign officials. It was perceived by the west as such,

"Sovereign democracy" is a Kremlin coinage that conveys two messages: first, that Russia's regime is democratic and, second, that this claim must be accepted, period. Any attempt at verification will be regarded as unfriendly and as meddling in Russia's domestic affairs.^[3]

At first the term "Sovereign Democracy" was used by the government of Taiwan for their existing political system. This term was supposed on one side describe the sovereignty and independence of Taiwan from the central Chinese government, and on the other underline the fundamental Democratic multi-party system that exists in Taiwan, as opposed to the strict Communist Party of China controlled system that exists in China.

1 Critics of "Sovereign Democracy"
2 Proponents of "Sovereign Democracy"
3 See Also
4 Sources
5 References

[edit] Critics of "Sovereign Democracy"

In an interview for "Expert", Dmitry Medvedev critiqued the said term by pointing out that Sovereignty and Democracy are two different concepts, and that fusing them is impossible. "If a one where to attach а certain word to the word 'Democracy', one would leave a bad after-taste. This would lead to the belief that one is talking about a certain, untraditional, type of Democracy"^[4].

Mikhail Gorbachev on the 19th of July, 2006, critiqued the cancellation of elections in single member constituencies, and of the raising the barrier for participation of the Duma to 7 percent. He remarked that "these innovations into legislation cannot be forgiven by theories of 'sovereign' or 'controllable' democracy. Limitations that may be found to be necessary when the the very existence of the government and its citizens may be threatened must be looked upon as temporary, and not made into principle, like is done by the theorists of 'sovereign' and 'controllable' democracy. These kinds of definitions twist democracy, just like the concepts of 'socialist' and 'people' democracy before them"^[5].

Mikhail Kasyanov whilst talking about sovereign democracy pointed out that "... the motives of this doctrine are quite clear: the gathering and overtaking of any valuable political power and property. The consequences of which are already evident, including the glorification of populism, a steady destruction of private and government universities, and straying from the principals of the law, democracy, and a free market."^[6]

Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried has stated in an interview that "I get nervous when people put labels in front of democracy. Sovereign democracy, managed democracy, people's democracy, socialist democracy, Aryan democracy, Islamic democracy - I am not a big fan of adjectives. Managed democracy doesn't sound like democracy. Sovereign democracy strikes me as meaningless."^[7]

[edit] Proponents of "Sovereign Democracy"

In August of 2006 a round table was held by the heads of the most influential political powers of the Russian Federation in order to discuss the concept of sovereign democracy. According to the Newspaper Izvestia the participants were able to agree upon the fact that all of them want to live in a free and democratic country.^[8]

In October of 2006 the head institute of international welfare of the Russian Academy of Sciences published an anthology of "The Conception and Identifying of Democracy". It used Fareed Zakaria's idea of the existence of a non-liberal democracy. The authors prove that throughout the history of western civilization, several democratic systems such as Aristocratic, Oligarchic, Egalitarian, and National democracies, replaced one another. Even more specific are the Chinese's ways of determining democracy. The democratic systems of the various countries of the European Union also vary greatly, for example the French system is based primarily on the model of a strong national government, and the German system is based on a quiet ban on a right-wing conservative ideology. In the United States starting from the year 2001 were held discussions about the country moving into a regime of an "Imperial President", one who has the right to limit various citizen and political gatherings under pretenses of the war on terror.

Special interest is placed upon the the theory of "Aristocratic Democracy" developed by the Italian historian de Ruggero. According to this theory, during the middle ages peasants had all of the rights of citizens and even maintained the right to elect monarchs. In western Europe there existed real aristocratic parliaments which were picked only by birth right. The vast majority of the population was looked upon as "unworthy" of receiving full citizen's rights. In this manner liberal democracy is only a try at adapting the norms of aristocratic democracy to the needs of the political system of to-day.

The current liberal democracy is one of the many variations of a democratic system. This kind of approach serves to advocate a scientific basis for the theory of Sovereign democracy.

In November of 2007 a book by the title of "Sovereign Democracy in a Constitutionally-right-wing Dimension" was published by the publishing company "Russian Newspaper". It presented itself as a compilation of the articles and materials of the leading jurists of the Russian Federation including Valery Zorkin, and holds a constitutional basis for said concept.