Democracy Depends On Your Vote

Some years ago, I did some pretty in-depth research on ancient Athens and its democratic

system of government as part of a documentary film I was pitching. It was actually a lot of

fun because I was looking at ways their democratic beliefs and practices were both similar and different from ours.

And some of the differences were quite striking, like the fact that only Athenian-born males

18 years-of-age and over could participate. Or the fact that their executive branch was

selected by a totally random lottery system – a system which one expert described as akin

to picking names out of a phone book.

Then there was the practice of ostracism, a procedure I found particularly attractive.

Essentially, every year the citizens of Athens chose a political figure who was becoming too

“uppity,” powerful or pushing for a more authoritarian regime and then voted to banish

them from the city for 10 years.

Needless to say, I can think of quite a few politicians I’d like to see subjected to that

procedure.

The word ostracism comes from the Greek word “ostraca” which were pottery shards used to scratch notes or in this case vote to banish an aspiring tyrant.

But there was yet another ancient democratic practice which also instantly commanded

my attention and admiration. Any Athenian malingerers who failed to appear and vote at

key political meetings were fined for slacking-off on their civic duty.

Now, one can only imagine what would happen here if that practice were put into effect,

given that the highest voter turnout in recent Winnipeg civic elections, tallied up at just 50%

in 2014. Which means that the other 50% would be adding a significant amount of cash to

the city coffers via slacker fines.

Even better, those Athenians who did take time off work to go and vote were paid for their

service to the state.

So where, you may ask, am I going with this?

Well, here’s the thing - I actually think that fining people who don’t vote and paying people

who do isn’t a bad idea. Because people who don’t vote aren’t participating in our

democratic system of governance, and we all pay for that.

Indeed, it could be argued that without mass participation our democracies inevitably

wind up at significant risk.

Turns out the Athenians knew that all too well, because prior to establishing their

democracy they’d suffered under the yoke of tyrannical authoritarian regimes for a very

long time. Regimes in which a wealthy elite or single individual seized power and ruled by

decree.

And if that doesn’t sound a little too frighteningly familiar, then you clearly haven’t been paying attention to the orange guy down south, who’s been issuing all those executive

orders.

Or the current mayor of Winnipeg who issues his marching orders via his executive policy

committee.

Those politicians remain in power largely because far too many of us don’t vote. In fact in

Winnipeg’s last civic election only 37.1% of eligible voters cast a ballot.

A little something we’ve known for a very long time!

Which means that the 63% who didn’t vote are the ones who likely ensured that Scott

Gillingham won the mayoral race, instead of a progressive candidate like Glen Murray or

Shawn Loney.

And it doesn’t help that a recent poll of 600 Winnipeggers, who weren’t even asked if they

planned to vote, is interpreted by the media as a predictor of low voter turnout in our

upcoming civic election.

How the heck do they figure that?

In fact the only thing the poll did confirm was the fact that a vast majority of us are deeply

unhappy with the state of our city, and almost 50% of us do not want another four years of Scott Gillingham. The poll also revealed that 69% of us don’t believe much is going to

change as a result of the election.

But here’s the thing – equating voter dissatisfaction with low voter turnout just doesn’t hold water. Framing it that way in the media, however, almost guarantees that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, because it lets all those people who don’t vote off the hook.

“Oh look,” I can hear all those non-voters say, “600 people think the election won’t change

much, so why the heck should I vote!”

And that, my friends, is very bad for democracy. Because the reality is this – in a democratic

system, change only happens when a majority people are dissatisfied and angry with their

governments. So angry that they ditch their apathy and vote for change.

So with the Winnipeg civic election looming, I suggest that you do some serious research.

Take a look at who is running in your ward. You might just find a candidate who does speak

your language and has a plan to address your concerns.

And once you’ve done that then do your democratic duty and vote, because protecting our democracy depends on all of us.

You can find out more about the world’s first democracy by watching “Athens: The Birth of

Democracy.” Look for it on CBC Gem, the PBS app or PBS documentaries on Prime and

watch the trailer here: https://www.meritmotionpictures.com/projects/athens-birth-of-democracy