President,

Europe is experiencing financial crisis. Is representative democracy also in crisis? With falling voter turn-out, erosion of ideology-based politics, rise of populism, and lack of confidence in politicians this is indeed a relevant question – especially relevant for us as presidents of parliaments.

Perhaps we should ask ourselves: If democracy is in crisis, what’s the alternative? Are there other ways of governing in the best interest of the people? Representative democracy as we see it today is a result of history evolving from ancient Greece’s Athenian democracy, via revolution in France, to the parliamentary democracies dominating the Europe of today. Through centuries people have fought for the right to be represented, and have influence on the political system. 

I still believe in representative democracy. There are no good alternatives. In democracies social capital is built through relations between the electorate and the political leadership. Social capital is indeed a prerequisite for democratic stability.

Democracy is the only form of government where checks and balances genuinely counter each other, with power being distributed regardless of class, ethnicity or religion, avoiding elitism and oligarchy. I am not saying that the democracies we see in Europe today are all fully imbued with these qualities, but I’m convinced that only democracies could be given these characteristics.

- Only in democracies is there an authentic role for the opposition. In a functioning democracy it plays an essential role in parliament, making the parliament an indispensable check to the government.
- Only in democracies do the people hold the power. Through elections, they decide who should govern on their behalf.
- Only in functioning democracies does power shift between political parties and party coalitions - between majority and minority governments.

President,

If democracy is indeed in crisis, it is our responsibility as politicians and as presidents of parliament, to deal with it. Lack of trust and lower turn out at election time cannot be blamed on the electorate. The fault is ours, and the responsibility is ours. We must find ways to remedy the situation.

Remedy can be found in three key concepts: Representation, influence and transparency.
- When people as individuals feel they have their own representatives in decision making forums they gain trust.
- When people have influence through for example membership in political parties or interest groups they participate.
- When decision making processes are transparent people can be confident that there are no hidden agendas and they can have trust in their representatives. 
An open and transparent system is a prerequisite for good representation and the people being influential, it is the key to building social capital and having prospering democracies. 

We are elected as representatives of our people, without the electorate there would be no politics. As we all know, the word democracy comes from ancient Greece and literally means “ruling by the people”. We must keep this in mind. And we must take to heart that we have been entrusted with power by our people. We have to earn their trust through responsible and transparent decision making. They deserve nothing less.

Thank you.