The Climate Change Challenge and the Failure of Democracy
by David Shearman and Joseph Wayne Smith, 2007, Praeger Publications
ISBN : 978-0313345043
Author's Personal Notes
This is a provocative book written by two avid democrats.
We say in Chapter 1:
"Let us be clear about one point from the very beginning of this text. The authors are not living fossil Marxists attempting to rehabilitate the Soviet regime. We agree that existing authoritarian societies, largely based upon Marxist doctrines, have had an appalling environmental record. We accept that there is no example of an existing authoritarian government that does not have a record of environmental abuse. We also accept that all existing authoritarian governments have a worse environmental record than all liberal democratic societies. Being "least worst" of a bad bunch is not a logically good argument for the acceptability of the "least worst" option".
To some degree then this book by authors who are committed to democracy is intended as a shock tactic. Our diagnostic analysis of the performance of the liberal democracies to date suggests that they are unlikely to succeed in stemming climate change and other global environmental problems. Those concerned with national and global security have recognised the danger of famine and social disorder that may result. Democracy is often a casualty and opportunists often grasp power under these circumstances. Reduction of greenhouse emissions is now urgent and we suggest that some authoritarian actions may be necessary just as they are in war. We try to persuade the reader of their applicability! But then we say in the final chapter that if you want to avoid these scenarios you must come to terms with the inadequacies of democracy and accept reforms, some of which are put forward.
Foreword
"In this latest volume of the Politics and Environment series, professor emeritus of medicine David Shearman and philosopher and ecologist Joseph Wayne Smith show a complete willingness to challenge organizational identities.
They forcefully argue that our system of overall political, economic, and social governance is an obstacle to confronting effectively the looming environmental crises that global climate change poses. Shearman and Smith challenge us to reexamine how states, corporations, and consumers are driving us, literally, to the brink of disaster. In engaging considerations of the limits to growth, the separation of corporatism and governance, financial reform, legal reform, and the reclaiming of the "commons" for human society, they ask us to consider what is often considered unthinkable in our cosmopolitan, ideologically centered mindset.
In short, Shearman and Smith argue that liberal democracy - considered sacrosanct in modern societies - is an impediment to finding ecologically sustainable solutions for the planet. Many, of course, will find this argument untenable. But I would urge readers to listen closely to Shearman and Smith's entertaining and always thoughtful arguments. In an era of ever widening, ever deepening globalization, liberal democracies have proven unable, or unwilling, to check the explosive growth of corporatism's power, influence, and reach. In terms that mirror Marx's thoughts on the aggregation of capital into the hands of the fewer and fewer, Shearman and Smith are nonetheless, not neo-Marxists in their argument. In some ways, their notions that liberal democracy must give way to "a form of authoritarian government by experts" reminds us as well of Plato's Republic".
P. H. Liotta
Executive Director
Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy
Newport, Rhode Island
The quotations from the text are reproduced with permission of Greenwood Publishing Group. Inc., Westport CT.
Preface & Chapter 1
Read the Preface & Chapter 1 (PDF, 236 KB)
Podcast Discussion
David Shearman discusses this book with Phillip Adams on Late Night Live, Radio National. Air date 21st Feb 2008. Click here to listen.
Purchase this book
This book is available from abc-clio.com and Amazon.com.