IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2021 - 8

Editorial

of alternative political systems, or even the discussion
of alternative political systems. In fact, the genuine
and more pressing threat lies in the intentional and
insidious subversion of democratic norms, processes,
and institutions by those that have been empowered
by them and so entrusted with them. Such subversion can be found in: the transfer of decision-making
authority from the legislative to the executive, such as
seen in the United Kingdom's European Union (EU)
(Withdrawal) bill or emergency powers granted to
deal with the COVID-19 pandemic; the denial of public
scrutiny and refusal to be held accountable; gerrymandering voting districts [15]; stacking courts with ideologically predisposed judges; transferring powers (e.g.,
from a state governor to a state senate) during the transition after a lost election; and systematically undermining the legitimacy of an entire democratic system
by refusing to accept the result of an election.
In fact, this process is so well known that it has a
name: the iron law of oligarchy [16], which contends
that any organization or institution, no matter how
" democratically " it is established, is inevitably taken
over by an oligarchic clique that runs the organization for their own interest, and not the common
good.4 Such oligarchic tendencies are far more damaging to the social fabric, body politic, and " democratic political system " than teachers exploring the
possibility that Plato, Karl Marx, and XR have some
interesting-and challenging-ideas about political
regimes and regime change, against which a robust
and mature political system and the party could
effectively counter-argue.

*	

Teaching that requirements of English civil or
criminal law may be disregarded, whether for
political or religious reasons or otherwise.

In this case, we might reasonably consider social
learning or teaching by example. So, what are school
pupils supposed to make of a government that is
purposefully and knowingly allowing itself to renege
on an international treaty that is negotiated within a
year; or of a prime minister that unlawfully prorogues
a national parliament when it votes against him, and
indeed of a prime minister who refuses to resign
when he is deemed to have unlawfully prorogued
parliament and so must have misled the head of
state to do so [18]; or of a minister who unlawfully
4

In fact, one reading of the theory of basic democracy [17] is precisely this, to identify the building blocks and processes of a democratic regime that enable it to resist
the entropic tendency to various forms of tyranny, including oligarchy, autocracy,
and majoritarian tyranny.

8

approves housing developments proposed by a
party donor, and indeed of a minister who refuses to
resign when he is deemed to have acted unlawfully;
or incidents of ministerial bullying, and refusal of
those ministers to resign even after judgments of the
Prime Minister's Independent Advisor on ministerial
standards; or of senior government advisers breaking lockdown rules during a pandemic (rules that
they themselves helped to formulate), and indeed of
an adviser who refuses to resign for breaking his own
lockdown rules during a pandemic.
Our putative pupils may well learn for themselves
that the requirements of English civil or criminal law,
and indeed the rule of law itself, can be disregarded,
especially if there are no apparent consequences.
They might also come to the conclusion, from the
blatant lack of respect and accountability, that there
are powerful and propertied classes for whom the
law is designed to protect but not restrain, and there
are disempowered and dispossessed classes for
whom the law is designed to restrain but not protect.5
*	 Engaging in or encouraging active or persistent
harassment or intimidation of individuals in support of their cause.
Ostensibly, this might seem well-intentioned, until
it is realized that this is not the way things are actually
done. The reality is subtler (although even subtlety
is becoming bothersome to some populist authoritarians) but altogether more pernicious. Hence, we
see: the use of " dogwhistle " language constructs; the
language of social division and disparagement of
social, generational, or ethnic groups ( " strivers versus
skivers, " and " workers versus shirkers " ); the manufacture of imagined threats (e.g., caravans of migrants,
Turkey to join the EU, and cultural Marxism); blacklists to deny employment to trades union activists; and
the diversionary manufacture and provocations of
culture wars based on invented and specious threats
to " our culture " (erection of statues, naming of military bases, singing Rule Britannia at the Last Night of
the Proms, " war on woke, " etc.).
In addition to this indirect encouragement for
the harassment or intimidation of groups, there
are indirect ways to get at individuals. For example, the England and Manchester United footballer
5
This pithy observation is originally attributed to a blog comment by Frank Wilhoit, " Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: there must be
in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom
the law binds but does not protect. " https://crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/
liberals-against-progressives/

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IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2021

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