Does this title appeal to you?
You are listening to Radio Here and Now 95.2 FM and online at icietmaintenant.com. You just
heard the four seasons of Vivaldi, the beginning of autumn because seasons change,
but unfortunately, the same can't be said about the political systems.
And to discuss this, we are joined by Etienne Chouard, Hello Etienne.
Hello
Etienne, hello, I am going to briefly introduce you ... So you are an independent researcher,
I saw recently a video entitled: Etienne Chouard, researcher of the cause of causes,
Yes...
Yes? Alright then we will say Etienne Chouard, researcher of the cause of causes, you are working on the idea
of democracy, fake democracy compared to genuine democracy, so I am going to try and summarize
in a few sentences your arguments and you can correct me if need be. So in short,
You think that we are living today in a fake democracy,
which is based on the wrong choice, on the illusion of choice, when in reality the accurate name of the system
in which we live, is the representational government. Because real democracy (genuine democracy)
is not based on elections, but on lottery. Does this sound like a good introduction?
Yes, but in fact for someone who has never heard of this subject, it will be somewhat brutal
you are right, I used this short intro because we had you as a guest several times and our listeners
are for the majority familiar with your thoughts. So, for the listeners who in fact
are discovering this for the first time, I have here a book you talked about on this radio
during your first appearance, anyways with me, and the book is called "Principes du Gouvernement Representatif"
It is a book by Bernard Manin, and I want to thank Benjamin for
lending it to me, he borrowed it from his local library, and I will read
I think reading from Bernard Manin is better than my introduction
So I will read these few sentences: " From Athenians democrats to Montesquieu,
from Aristotle to Rousseau, no one thought of turning the election into THE democratic instrument of choice.
Democracy was not equivalent to a representational government. It was the lottery system that seemed better fit
to respect strict equality of the candidates. What happened at the turn of the eighteenth century
in Europe and the United States, for this multi-secular concept to be reversed, and lose ground to the idea
that a democracy is, in essence, a representational government? Is this change an accurate reflection?
This book represents a theory of representational government
that fits both the European tradition and the American debate. Bernard Manin argues that
the representational system does not have the unique function to allow citizens to self-govern.