Conclusion
I draw from experience in Northern Ireland that the workability and survival of liberal democratic systems in the sense outlined above (systems in which the executive and legislature are elected and in which the rule of law is observed, human rights and civil and political liberties are respected, and it is accepted that no party or government has a monopoly of wisdom) depends upon there existing among the general population a sufficiently strong sense of shared interests so that the efforts of public bodies to promote those interests, and to do so altruistically and in a spirit of public service, command the broad if not universal support, or at least the acquiescence, of the people.
Whether a sufficiently strong sense of shared interests exists in a population is an empirical question; a matter of the culture and psychology of the groups within the population. It is part of the role of governments to promote senses of shared interests and identities. If they do not exist, then the government and the system will lack legitimacy. Here is my hypothesis. A country in which conformity with the public service and public interest principles is not generally demanded of those in power by the population; which expects or reluctantly accepts or even demands instead that those in power favour particular sections of society; or where those not in official positions are allowed to control public officials; and where the principles are not broadly adhered to by public bodies — for instance, where there is corruption or partisanship or sectarianism — cannot be a liberal democracy. We can no doubt all of us think of countries which are not liberal democracies: my bet is that all of them suffer from an absence from the culture of the population and from officials of commitment to these two principles—whether from corruption which undermines the public service principle, or tribalism, racism, classism, or religious sectarianism, all of which deny the very existence of public or shared interests or the principle that the pursuit of those interests, if they exist, should be the goal of government. And the webs of accountability in all countries will reveal the extent of commitment to these principles.
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