A new idea

“Democracy, a new idea”: that’s the title of the 86th annual Semaine sociale in France due to be held in Paris from 25 to 27 November (Parc Floral), on the initiative of the Semaines Sociales de France (SSF), the Catholic institution chaired by Jérôme Vignon. The three-day meeting is expected to be attended by over 3,500 participants. Each day will have a different theme: “Appraising democracy” (Friday 25), “Experiencing democracy” (Saturday 26) and “Real-life democracy” (Sunday 27). Academics, sociologists, jurists, writers, journalists, politicians, and representatives of the economic and business world, will participate in the debate, which this year presents a session on the theme of the democratic contract in which the candidates in the forthcoming presidential elections of 2012 (first round on 22 April and the second on 6 May) will also participate. The conclusions will be entrusted to the President, Jérôme Vignon whom SIR Europe has interviewed.Why the theme “Democracy, a new idea”? Is it to demonstrate that the challenge of citizenship is not only French but also European?“The title was chosen to remind Catholics in France that the democracy to which we have become accustomed for over two centuries is in reality a vulnerable, fragile idea, that needs to be re-established, reformulated, taking into account the new contexts and the cultural changes of our time. We are now experiencing just such a cultural change: both external, with the globalization that obliges us to think of our future with other peoples, and internal, with new values: equality between man and woman, democratic individualism”. The economic crisis may consign democracy to the hands of political and financial élites, increasing the gap with civic society. What possible solutions are there?“If, under the pressure of the markets, we are reduced to changing governments and having recourse to unelected technocrats, that’s the fault neither of the markets nor of the crisis. The crisis highlights, but does not create, the weakness of the democratic institutions: a weakness due to the fact that we ignored them, before the crisis. This permitted power to be entrusted to mediocre or short-sighted rulers, and led to us losing interest in politics, sometimes preferring more valuable or more lucrative commitments instead. On the other hand, we cannot but acknowledge that those defined as ‘technocrats’ are in fact courageous men, whereas politicians in the strict sense are very careful not to ‘compromise themselves’. The main solution has got to be long term. We need to commit ourselves as citizens, not only in politics, but in the various institutions in which the democratic spirit, or respect for the opinions of others, is at stake: the family, the school, the business world, the associations and the intermediate organizations. If within these institutions we continue to believe that one person alone should have the prerogative to exercise power over all the rest, how is it possible to respect political democracy? However, the crisis gives us the opportunity to improve the democratic quality of our national and European political communities. A civic Christianity can demand a reform of the tax regime and social welfare system to reduce the existing inequalities to the benefit of those at the bottom of the social ladder. This would also help economic growth. A civic Christianity in our European countries has the right to demand that those with political responsibility should present in a clear way the project of the European Union they propose to their country. It’s a question of conceiving a Union, a form of cooperation between peoples that is fair and fruitful, not only in itself but also for the community of nations”. We are also witnessing the transition to real democracy: we may cite fairtrade and the movement towards social and economic solidarity, forms of democracy launched directly by citizens. So how can a dialogue between real democracy and purely formal democracies be taken forward?“This is a fundamental question, already tackled by Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical ‘Caritas in Veritate’, in chapter 3, where he proposes cross-fertilization between the three pillars of the social market economy. No doubt we cannot wait for the social economy, or the economy of solidarity, to become a model for the business world as a whole. In compensation, however, cooperation between this form of economy and profit-making companies and public institutions for social protection would give everyone a shot in the arm”. Today in Europe the axis between France and Germany seems to be imposing financial policies and strategies on the rest of the EU. Can this Franco-German alliance deprive of credibility that noble form of democracy represented by the community method used in the EU?“I think that the Franco-German tandem is and shall remain an indispensable motor of the European Union, if for no other reason than the fact that it combines the sensibility of the north with that of the south. But this motor is only acceptable if it works to the benefit of everyone, i.e. is at the service of a more integrated Union. Recently there has been a change in attitude, more in Germany than in France, which would lead to abandoning the community model. Chancellor Merkel herself recently gave a speech in Bruges that may give rise to concern in Europeans sensitive to the spirit and methods of community decisions. In effect the confidence of members of the Union was undermined by failures to fulfil obligations that countries assumed when they adopted the single currency. Probably the personality of a premier like Mario Monti in Italy can contribute significantly to restoring this confidence: not so much the confidence of the markets, as confidence between peoples”.Is there a role for believers in this new idea of democracy?“Yes, even in an unimaginable way. A first contribution of believers is represented by the personal practice of the profound values of Christianity, indispensable for the functioning of democracy: respect for other peoples’ opinions, the conviction that each can and must contribute to the common good, the sense of compromise to be preferred to violence and force as a way of settling disputes, the sense of brotherhood, on which solidarity is founded. However, in a period in which public life is fragile and politics and its institutions are at times discredited, the contribution of Christianity goes well beyond putting Christian values into personal practice. We need a civic Christianity that is expressed in public life as such, to encourage democracy to concentrate on moral needs in a long-term perspective”.This year’s Semaine Sociale is undoubtedly linked to the forthcoming presidential elections in France. A meeting with the candidates is even included in the programme. What do you expect from that?“We expect that the six candidates, or those that represent them, will give us, in their interventions, a message on how they intend to foster democracy in France and Europe, on how they wish to encourage the involvement of citizens, and on their attitude to sharing a common project beyond the immediate constraints that the crisis seems to be imposing”. Social Weeks in Europe – Fact fileThe Semaine Sociale de France comes after similar Social Weeks promoted in recent weeks in Slovenia, now in its third year, and in Moldavia, its debut year. In Slovenia the theme treated was “raising civic awareness about citizens’ rights”, whereas in Moldavia it was the “courage to grow at the side of the most disadvantaged”. Representatives of other Social Weeks in Europe were present at the baptism of this first Social Week in Moldavia: they included Mgr. Arrigo Miglio, Bishop of Ivrea and president of the Social Weeks in Italy; Jean-Pierre Rosa, delegate of the Semaines Sociales de France; and Mgr. Giampaolo Crepaldi, Bishop of Trieste and chairman of the Social Commission “Caritas in Veritate” of the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE). It is just within the CCEE that work is now progressing on the organization of a European version of the “Catholic Social Days for Europe”, to be held in Spain in 2013″.