The Flaws That Kill Our Democracy

Democracy is under pressure. Western democratic societies face problems such as today’s increased polarization, climate change, and migration crises. But democracies have been facing challenges from their very existence. Democracy should enable us to peacefully resolve social problems by political means. Unfortunately, it has failed to do so—before the American Civil War, during the Weimar Republic, in many post-colonial African countries, and more recently in the Arab Spring. If this system is broken, what are the flaws that prevent it from working well?

The Flaws That Kill Our Democracy analyzes the fundamentals of our system of representative democracy in order to detect its defects. Klaas Mensaert examines and proposes solutions to these problems that are both simple and that may have the largest impact. He addresses important questions such as: What are political parties? Should political parties be ideological? How and by whom should one be represented? Should elections resemble popularity contests? What is the link between economics and politics?

An enlightening analysis of Western political ills, The Flaws That Kill Our Democracy provides not only insights into our fundamental political problems—it also offers concrete and scientific solutions.

As a bioinformatician, MENSAERT has been inspired by decentralized, bottom-up processes that can be observed both in nature and in the best of human endeavors—ideas such as the free market and the scientific process. As a former member of the Belgian Pirate Party, he has observed both the capabilities and weaknesses of political parties.