TWO ESSENTIALS OF DEMOCRACY (1968)
By. J. K. Nyerere in Man and Development (Pg 58-60)
There are, however, two essential elements of democracy without which it cannot work. First, is that everyone must be allowed to speak freely, and everyone must be listened to. It does not matter how unpopular a man's ideas, or how mistaken the majority think of him. It does not make any difference whether he is liked or disliked for h is personal qualities. Every Tanzania, every member of a community, every member of a District Council, every Member of Parliament, and so on, must have the freedom to speak without fear of intimidation – either inside or outside the meeting place.
The minority in any debate must have the right to speak without fear of persecution; it must be defeated in argument, not by threat of force. The debates leading to a decision must be free debates. And even after a decision has been made, free discussion about it should be allowed to continue. For the minority must know that if it has a good case, and if it argues properly and correctly, it will be able to convert the majority. Similarly, the majority must be willing to maintain the argument until the minority has been convinced of the correctness of the decision which has been made. Free debate must continue. It is an essential element of personal freedom.
But the necessity for continued freedom in discussion must not be allowed to prevent decisions from being made. There come a point where action must follow discussion. or else we shall do nothing but talk. When there has been adequate discussion of a question, and every point of view has been expressed, then the decision must be reached, and the majority must be allowed to prevail. For just the minority on any question have a right to be heard, so the majority has the right to be obeyed. Once a decision is reached, it must be accepted as the decision of all.
And everyone, including those who were in opposition has to cooperate in carrying out that decision. Thus, for example, once a law has been passed it must be obeyed by everyone, including those who spoke against and have not been convinced by the arguments put forward in its support. More than that, once a law has been passed, it must be actively supported by everyone. It should not be merely a matter of acquiescence.
It is not enough that a citizen should himself refrain from stealing; he must cooperate with the police in upholding the law, and must give over to the police those who transgress it.
For democratic decision-making must be followed by discipline in carrying out the decisions. The minority must be allowed to succeed in getting majority support for a change; they must obey the law or the rule which has been laid down. Without this kind of discipline no development of any kind is possible.
Discipline must exist in every aspect of our live. And it must be willingly accepted discipline. For it is an essential part of both freedom and development. The greater freedom which comes from working together, and achieving things by co-operation which none acceptance of joint decisions. And this involves the acceptance of lawfully constituted authority. It means that if we work in factory, we have to accept the discipline of that factory. Whether the factory is privately or publicly owned makes no difference; its rules must be adhered to and the people who are in charge of particular operation must be obeyed. Similarly, in hospitals, schools, offices, and so on.
If the doctor orders certain treatment for the patient, it must be carried out by the nurse without argument, and the without carelessness. If the matron lays down rules designed to ensure the smooth operation of the hospital, every nurse must obey these rules. If there difficulties, representations can be made, but in the meantime the hospital discipline must be maintained or the person must accept dismissal.
The same thing is true in our villages and rural communities. Once a Community has democratically decided upon a particular self0help scheme everyone must cooperate in carrying out that decision, or pay the penalty which the village agrees upon.
Yet provided decisions are made after free and friendly discussion, and by majority will the essential discipline should be freely accepted, and should in fact be largely self-discipline. For if our people want freedom for themselves, and if they want development then they will accept the need for disciplined action. Indeed, the acceptance of community discipline is only a problem in Tanzania when our people do not understand the implications of the changes which we have already effected in our lives.
In traditional society we had discipline – often very severe. It was accepted by everyone and everyone cooperated in imposing it. Our problem now comes not from the discipline itself, but from a lack of understanding about the machinery which his necessary for discipline in a modern state, and from a failure to realize that different kinds of discipline are needed in the organizations of a modern society. Thus, for example theft was dealt with directly by the community when each village looked after its own peace and security. Now it is essential that suspected thieves should be handed over to the police, and not mishandled by the people themselves. Or again, the simple rules of an isolated village are not enough for the running of a modern factory. In the village it rarely mattered whether a man carried out his task at daybreak or at noon; in a factory hundreds of other people can be made idle just because one man does not do his job at the right time.
These new kinds of discipline must be accepted by our people, and by all our leaders. And if anyone is unwilling to accept his responsibilities in this matter, then he must accept the penalties of his failure. If he disobeys the law, then the courts must punish him. If he fails to observe discipline in his work, the he must be dismissed. For we have to accept that the people in authority in Tanzania now are the agents of the people of Tanzania. If they do their job badly, or if they fail to respect the humanity of every human being, then the Government will replace them, or at an election the people will replace them.
But in the meantime they must be upheld while they are carrying out the law, or issuing orders which are in conformity with the law. We must ourselves stop abusing people who are trying to ensure discipline; we must stop calling a man "mkoloni" when he demands strict observance of the rules in an office, a factory, a hospital, a school, or any other institution.
If we are to live our lives in peace and harmony, and if we are to achieve our ambitions of improving the conditions under which we live, we must have both freedom and discipline. For freedom without discipline is anarchy, discipline without freedom is tyranny.
Discipline, however, must be a means of implementing decisions. Only in the very limited sense of orderly debate is discipline involved in the making of decisions. And discipline is not another word for force. A meeting must be discipline if every member is to have an opportunity to be heard, but a disciplined meeting is not one where everyone automatically says "yes" to whatever is suggested. A disciplined meeting is one whether the rules which have been accepted as fair are observed by everyone – for example, where every member speaks though the chairman, and where each person is allowed to make his point without being shouted down or abused. For discipline allows the orderly conduct of affairs; it is the means by which decision are implemented – not they way they are made.