What is democracy?

Much has been said and continues to be said about democracy. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle did not much care for this form of government, which was an invention of their own countries, and they would say that an unenlightened public chooses demagogues as their leaders. Even the "Evren Pasha" of the September 12 coup would occasionally refer to Plato in his speeches as a cover for what he did to his country.

The most frequent reference to democracy in textbooks is Abraham Lincoln's famous phrase: government of the people, by the people, for the people. Between us, Black Americans were not really included among these "people" for many years. On the other hand, there are those who say that for today's US administration, it is a government of the one percent, by the one percent, for the one percent. The one percent referred to, as you have immediately guessed, are the country's wealthiest.

Another very famous quote about democracy belongs to Winston Churchill: “Democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.” In fact, this cynical definition does not belong to Churchill but is a quotation. He himself confirmed this but stated that he had forgotten who it belonged to.

In the history of my country, the most beautiful statement about democracy was, in my opinion, made by İsmet İnönü, but for some reason, it is rarely repeated. When the Democrat Party came to power in 1950, there were entirely undemocratic views, such as refusing to accept the election results and not handing over the country's administration to the winners. İnönü stood firmly against these, and years later, referring to the CHP's 1950 defeat, he said, “My greatest defeat is my greatest victory.”

S. Levitsky and D. Ziblatt are professors of political science at Harvard University. In 2018, they wrote a book called How Democracies Die. As I understand it, their main source of inspiration was Trump's first US presidency and how and to what extent that country began to drift away from democracy in roughly a year. Of course, they also provide striking examples from history. The frequently voiced notion of society being split down the middle like a watermelon and analogies to that effect abound in the book. However, I want to share something else with you. The authors placed a definition of democracy at the end of their book that I had never heard before. It is a definition I read with great joy and hope, and that is why I wanted you to hear it too.

I am learning. E.B. White is a famous American journalist and writer. He also wrote for the famous American magazine The New Yorker. During World War II, a Writers' War Board was established in the US with government support. Its purpose, undoubtedly, was war propaganda for the benefit of the country. Right in the middle of the war, a request came to The New Yorker from this board to prepare an article on the subject of "What is Democracy?" Upon this, E. B. White penned the following short piece:

“The Board, I am sure, knows what democracy is. Democracy is the line that forms on the right. It is the ‘don’t in that case shoot’ warning. It is the prick in the vanity of the dictator, the wrinkle in the top hat. It is the insistence that the majority of the people can be right more than half of the time. It is the quiet in the polling booth, the togetherness in the library, the life-giving spirit everywhere. Democracy is a letter to the editor. It is the score on the scoreboard in the final minutes of the game. It is a view that has not yet been proven wrong, a song whose lyrics have not lost their meaning to this day. It is the mustard we put on a hot dog, the cream we add to our rationed coffee. Democracy is the day a war morning comes, and a War Board asks us what democracy is (July, 1943).”

If you will allow me, I would like to touch upon two parts of the quote, perhaps a bit selfishly. First, "the quiet in the polling booth." During the 1982 Constitution referendum, I was the chairman of the ballot box committee in a room at the Kadıköy Water Administration of the time. The other four members were teachers from various schools in Kadıköy. The first thing that caught my eye that morning was the difference in the color and thickness of the ballots. In short, the "yes" votes were white and thin, while the "no" (rejection) votes were thicker and blue. In summary, let's say the height of a stack of 100 "no" votes was 20 cm, whereas the height of a stack of 100 white votes was 10 cm. Rumors had been circulating for days. The military administration would find a way to minimize the public's use of blue votes. The common assumption was this: Since votes are placed in an envelope before being cast, that envelope would be transparent, and since the vast majority of ballot boxes were also transparent, the citizen entering the polling booth would see that blue votes were not very popular and would be inclined to use a white vote as well. However, I understood that morning that this assumption was wrong. First of all, the ballot envelopes were not transparent. In my opinion, a more cunning method had been found to guide the citizen. When the citizen looked at the blue and white stacks to choose their vote, due to the difference in the thickness of the ballots I mentioned, their first impression was that the vast majority of those who voted before them had used a white vote, and they would be inclined to do the same. The results of this truly unpleasant, cunningly managed voting were even more unpleasant. I think about 150 citizens voted at our ballot box that day. At the end of the day, only 11 of the votes were blue. Among these were the 5 votes cast by us, the ballot box committee. Oh, and one lady had openly stated that her vote would be for "good" (hayır) and cast her vote. In short, at our ballot box, that is, in a region that undoubtedly has the most literate population in my country, the constitution prepared by a dictatorial regime had received great favor. And, as I observed, directly in the polling booth, without being disturbed at all. I felt like saying "It serves you right" to my neighbors, but I couldn't bring myself to say it.

The second and more selfish place I will touch upon in the quote is the sentence "Democracy is a letter to the editor." Why I love this sentence so much, if you will allow me, should remain between my students and me.

After the authors of How Democracies Die placed the quote I have been talking about toward the end of their book, they said: “This egalitarian, polite behavior, this spirit of freedom and common purpose was the foundation of the democracy that America was able to achieve in the mid-20th century. This is what is in danger today.” As for me, inspired entirely by them, let me end my article like this: This egalitarian, polite behavior, this spirit of freedom, and common purpose must also be the foundation of democracy for my country.