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'Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those that have been tried before.' — Winston Churchill. So how should mankind organise itself to ensure a civilised society? In this personal, and sometimes challenging, work the author argues that an idealised form of political government has been the goal of mankind since Plato himself. But political thinking has overwhelmingly been a theoretical exercise detached from reality. Little consideration was given to the fact that it is humans — who do not behave as rationally as political theories are bound to assume — who must implement these theories. Flawed humans who are driven by the forces of prejudice, feelings, emotions, etc. These immutable and distinctive characteristics of the imperfect human ensure that democracy has been impossible to achieve. Democracy will never be perfect. One can only hope for small, incremental improvements. Any attempt to force radical changes is doomed to failure.

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9781788360074

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Ernest Lamers, a Dutch national, read international economics and finance at the University of Tilburg (The Netherlands) and has a PhD in Economics. He left Holland in 1963 for an international career that took him successively to Ankara and Paris (O.E.C.D.), Washington (World Bank), London (City) and Luxemburg–Rome–Luxemburg (European Investment Bank) for some 25 years. He is now retired and has used his otium — cum dignitate, he hopes — to put his thoughts about a few political matters on paper.

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