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Kingdom, certainly in Scotland. Brexit also threatens the ability of Northern
Ireland and the Belfast Agreement. Northern Ireland or Ireland itself has over a
hundred years of varying level of civil war and violence partly result by the
Belfast Agreement and the devolution arrangements. But the imposition of a
border between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland is likely to lead to
serious political problems.
Other threats to democracy relating to Brexit in particular include the
political paralysis caused by the process of leaving. All government energy or
nearly all government energy is focused on trying to negotiate a deal with the
highly complex set of political and trade related issues. So that’s one problem
of Brexit that threatens the UK.
Another problem is the deeply divisive nature of Brexit within the political
party. So, the main political parties are now in the form of internal civil war.
So, that is another challenge.
Other threats include the right of populism and new forms of
communication in the cyber age including interference in elections. I would like
just to take a couple minutes to talk about the strength of the UK democracy,
otherwise, the talk would be unbalanced.
So, these are my points on the strength of the UK democracy. The United
Kingdom is a highly prosperous country which reflects well on its organization.
But it’s also very helpful fact of promoting democracy. The legal system is
advanced, reliable, and with state support for access to justice. The judiciary is
highly educated, has a long history of independence, is very honorable,
unbiased, and known corrupt, in other words, it’s un-bribable. Based on
international comparisons, the United Kingdom is safe, secure, and with strong
respect for the rule of law. Having said that, it is important to remember that
well established democracy can go backwards as well as forwards. Bad political
decisions can be taken with very serious impact. At the national level, I would
regard Brexit as an example of a bad decision. At an international level,
I would regard the UK’s decision to go to war in Iraq as disaster for all
concerned.
My brief conclusions are these. Well established democracies have to
strive to improve and guard against the weaknesses inherent in the system. Of
the utmost importance is a political and social culture of a society. Principles of
integrity, a deep commitment to democracy and abhorrence of corruption are all ²£ ´£²¢¡¸¡¡Á¥°£°ª²£l²h²£°À¨
vital. Also essential is that all those who participating government and the
workings of the state demonstrate fairness and integrity in the execution of
government business. And they realize that the exercise of the governmental
power is on trust and for the benefit of the people. If these elements are
