De Jong and Van Rootselaar are putting this expertise on democracy into the spotlight with a series of lectures and debates in cooperation with De Balie in Amsterdam, a podcast and the educational game Demos, among other activities. In doing so, they reach very diverse groups in society, from companies and municipal councils to teachers and students. “We try to contribute to citizenship education, to give people insight into how a democracy works,” explains Van Rootselaar.
Acquiring insight into the functioning of a democracy is no luxury in a country where confidence in politics has plummeted in recent months. “You are seeing people actually giving up,” says De Jong. The Demos game can help increase people’s understanding of democracy. In the game the participants play the Dutch people. Various problems – raising the state pension age or the introduction of conscription – are discussed and the group tries to find solutions. The interests are divergent, so the players have to compromise or come to agreement in another way.
Dissatisfaction is part of democracy
“By playing the democracy game you experience how political processes work and what difficulties there are. In this way you improve your understanding of how certain decisions are made and why everything does not go perfectly in a democracy”, De Jong says. Van Rootselaar adds: “It can create support and perhaps even encourage people to become politically active. That is important in small municipalities, for example.”
A central question in the projects of De Jong and Van Rootselaar is to what extent democracy is under pressure. “In principle, there is always pressure on democracy,” says Van Rootselaar. “Discontent is part of a democracy because we will never all agree. If discontent is absent or forbidden, then you live in a totalitarian society. The question is: how much discontent is healthy? And don't forget it’s even more dangerous if the disaffected are silent and become invisible.”
In that regard, De Jong is now more worried than when he began began his academic career. “As an historian you often put certain developments into perspective more quickly, but with the clashes we have seen in recent years, I wonder: how much pressure can a democracy take? And what are the necessary conditions for a democratic society?” Van Rootselaar: “It is precisely when there is so much pressure that you learn a lot about how a democracy works. That makes our work very interesting.”
Foto: Wikimedia Commons
