Market economy and democratic politics

Author: Compiled by: Zhang Lihua et al.
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2006-02-17
Features: Although the advocacy of the Religious Convention Movement became the starting point for a series of subsequent religious reforms, its democratic content was not realized within the church. As a political demand, the advocacy of democracy was explicitly proposed during the English Revolution by the Levelers and the Diggers. The Levelers were a group primarily composed of junior officers and soldiers in the army commanded by Cromwell, represented by figures such as John Lilburne and Richard Overton. As Protestants, they firmly believed in the equality of all before God. More importantly, they concluded that political equality should also be upheld. They declared that Jesus was the leader of the Levelers. In a pamphlet published in 1646, Lilburne explicitly stated: "Since all are descendants of Adam, they are 'born equal and possess the same power and dignity.'" He directly pointed out to the privileged class: "If your (power) is based solely on natural law, then according to natural law, you do not possess even the slightest more power over this land or anything else than I do." The Levelers did not stop at arguing for abstract equal rights; they also proposed a series of political schemes to make this equality a reality. Overton sharply stated: "You know that the laws of this country are fundamentally unsuitable for a free people. We must examine them from top to bottom, conduct rigorous discussions, and make them into a correct rational agreement that reflects public equality. This is the very form and vitality that every government should possess." In other words, a government should be established that provides conditions for all to participate in politics and obtains consent from all. As one member of the Levelers put it: "I truly believe that the humblest people in England should live the same kind of life as the greatest. And, sir, I clearly believe that it must first be agreed by the individual before he is subjected to the governance of a government; at the same time, I firmly believe that even the humblest people in England, without their consent, do not necessarily have to obey the government in a strict sense." The natural conclusion of emphasizing political equality is the equal participation of people in politics, which then becomes a democratic political proposition. The emergence of the Levelers and the proposal of their political can be said to be the best reflection of political democratic demands—they hoped that after the victory of the New Model Army, the new political "arrangement" would reflect the interests and aspirations of the junior officers and common soldiers they represented, and thus of the social class they represented. The Levelers believed that the fundamental basis of government is the consent of the people. In his pamphlet An Appeal from the Commons to the Free People (1647), Overton pointed out that government is only legitimate when its actions are rational and it is based on the consent of rational people. "All just human power is entrusted and granted through the general consent of the people, because in the state of nature, every individual is endowed with certain natural rights that no one else may infringe upon or abuse." Overton further argued that the popular foundation of government lies in the rationality of the people. Although perfect reason belongs only to God, he believed that in some sense, all adults possess such a capacity, because it is equally possessed by everyone and constitutes the sole foundation of government actions, thus naturally eliminating any aristocratic characteristics from the government. Overton believed that the way to reflect the popular foundation of government is to have government officials elected by the people. The Levelers even proposed that all adult men should participate in the electoral process. A document proposed by the Levelers, known as An Agreement of the People, formally put forward this demand. Another prominent figure of the Levelers, Ranbrough, proposed a view that went further than Overton. He argued that simply acknowledging that the foundation of government lies in the consent of the people is not enough; only when people have the right to elect the nation's legislators can this foundation be truly guaranteed. His theoretical basis is that laws apply to everyone and are thus relevant to everyone's interests. At the same time, since all people possess rationality, they should also have the right to decide who will legislate for them. The Diggers, historically known as the "True Levelers," in addition to demanding a form of democratic government and universal suffrage for all male citizens as an institutional expression of political equality, further introduced the concept of equality into the economic sphere, proposing the slogan of economic equality: "No one should justifiably be a master or landlord who stands above others; all land should be open to the children of humankind, allowing them to live freely." This became a proposition similar to socialism, which was clearly reflected in the writings of the Digger representative, William Stanley. However, in terms of their relationship with contemporary politics, both the Levelers and the Diggers far outpaced their time, because, given the social conditions of England at the time, neither a universal democratic popular foundation nor the corresponding institutional preparation existed, so their demands had no possibility of being realized. The Levelers rebelled due to soldiers protesting the of military pay, while the Diggers were suppressed for offending the interests of landowners. In fact, although the ideas of the Levelers and the Diggers were, in a sense, a product of the English Revolution, they went far beyond the boundaries of this revolution, which represented the interests of the commercial bourgeoisie. Their ideas were not widely disseminated again in England until about two centuries later. The theoretician of democratic consciousness can be said to be Rousseau. Rousseau was a radical critic of the entire civilization of the contemporary bourgeois society. He believed that although many at the time believed that the development of civilization marked social progress, it was actually a fundamental regression for human nature. He argued that one of the greatest evils in all societies was the inequality between people, because this was the root of all evil in human society. Therefore, although he regarded equality and freedom as the fundamental political goals of humanity and often exhibited a radical liberal stance, he believed that equality was of greater value, because it was the emergence of inequality between people that led to dependence and servitude. Rousseau believed that his mission was to provide a political and social design that would allow humanity to return to a state of equality and freedom, and this design was what he called the social contract. Rousseau believed that in the new community formed by people according to this social contract, although their natural inequalities in physical and intellectual abilities would still exist, "the fundamental pact did not destroy natural equality; rather, it replaced the physical inequality between people created by nature with moral and legal equality; thus, people can be unequal in strength and intelligence, but by agreement and right, they are all equal." Rousseau also believed that in the new social and political community, the "general will," which embodies sovereignty, has a tendency to approach equality, ensuring the independence of every member. Of course, the inequality under natural conditions is easy to understand, but what is the meaning of "moral and legal equality"? This must be understood through the process and provisions of the social contract proposed by Rousseau. According to Rousseau's account, each member of the community abandons everything that originally belonged to them when entering into the social contract. In this sense, all previous inequalities between them no longer exist, because they have become equally destitute. At the same time, as members of the new community, they will equally receive and possess the rights and benefits provided by the community through the social contract, which is what is called "moral and legal equality."