Bad Democracy Awards

Got an opinion about who (or what) is the world's worst abuser of democracy? I do, but my nominee isn't on the list! No matter, I can still have my say and so can you. Vote now for world's worst democrat (small 'D').

Tom Burgis of openDemocracy explains.

Deploying shame is an effective tactic of those who seek to check the excesses of the mighty. During his spell as UN special representative for children and armed conflict, Olara Otunnu drew up a “list of shame”, a catalogue of the leaders, governments and factions that were enlisting child soldiers or whose military adventures visited suffering upon the unprotected heads of children. Within weeks, Otunnu was fielding calls from some of the planet’s most bloodthirsty warlords begging to be removed from the list.

Thus it is that openDemocracy humbly presents the Bad Democracy Awards. The system – composed by a gaggle of constitutional experts working to exacting deadlines, and not to be revised without the express whim of our editorial staff – works like this:

    * each month, you – as a reader of openDemocracy and (we hope) a supporter of democracy – email your nominations for the month’s worst democrat
    * the nomination can be from any country or institution in the world, as far away or as close to home as you like (our editorial staff are already quaking – why did we publish that Sasha Abramsky article…?)
    * the candidate you propose might be a politician who has abused his mandate, pilfered from the public purse or betrayed public trust; a tyrant who has feasted while his people starve; a corporation, committee, party, army, sect, vicar, imam or mandarin who has undermined democratic governance
    * a shortlist of the six most heinous candidates will then be put to the vote – your vote, that is
    * each monthly victor will be informed of their success and sent an appropriate garland of shame
    * after a year, readers will be invited to crown one of our twelve reprobates Bad Democrat of the Year
    * the possibilities don’t end there: we may even invite the year’s nominees to pick their own choice for Bad Democrats’ Bad Democrat; and if all goes to plan, the whole project will culminate in an annual shindig of staggering gluttony during which the planet’s despots, fiddlers, riggers, rogues, bungsters, grafters and gerrymanderers will be presented with statuettes by – who else? – Imelda Marcos and Henry Kissinger

Comments

[David]

Might one nominate Chimperor, or is that one already taken?

[ae]

David, if you can believe it, he wasn't nominated in this round! Honestly. Does anyone else compare? And, like, where's Rummy in the mix??