Now let's continue on and look at some other elements of democratic equality.

the fifth element has to do with what we think of as perhaps the core element of democracy, particularly electoral democracy. How competitive is the system by which rulers are chosen, and offices are filled? And if elections are to be meaningful, they have to in the contemporary era, involve competition of an organized nature between different political parties. So this implies at least two political parties, with significant representation in Parliament. And a meaningful chance to win elections. it implies that there has to be something significant in the representation of opposition parties. You can have 75 or 80% of the seats in Parliament held by one party and have that be a seriously competitive political situation. Something is wrong on the face of the with the political system where any one party is that dominant. It implies low barriers to entry into the political arena of new political parties. So you can get change and ferment over time. It implies, in a truly competitive system fairness, in the drawing of electoral district boundaries, if there are electoral districts. And not the kind of gerrymandering that emerged in the ninteenth century in Britain, or in the United States where still to this day many states in the United States have their electoral district boundaries drawn by political parties in control of the state legislature or the state government seeking to give themselves advantage. In a truly high quality democracy, these functions are impo- performed neutrally by non-partisan professional electoral administration or constituency delimitation bodies. A truly competitive system, will ensure that different political parties and candidates have some open and fair access, to the mass media. That there's a limit on the ability of an incumbent government, to use the resources of government to win re-election. Now, the president may need to travel in

the secure airplane or limousine, that is provided for his or her protection. But, you can't simply use all of the government resources and transportation facilities for your party. Or the ability of, ruling a party to command the airwaves as government. and not provide some balance for opposition parties, without losing an important element of competitiveness. competitive free and fair election will squeeze out, rule out, and punish vote buying. Or other electoral fraud and ensure that people are freely able to cast their vote without a fear, corrupt inducement or intimidation. It's very important therefore, that there be a reasonably level playing field. In access to the mass media, to television and radio airtime. And, in funding of parties and campaigns. and generally, I have a view, that public funding of political parties and campaigns, has it's, at least, some role to play. In insuring a high degree of fairness and competitiveness in the electoral sense of democracy. At least to put a floor under alternative candidates so that political parties that have shown they have some base of support in the country. Can have access to some public resources to be able to wage, reasonably, credible and fair electoral campaign. In some countries this means, not only a minimal floor, but a maximal ceiling on what parties and candidates can spend in election. The problem with ceilings on campaign expenditures is that there so frequently violated. And so difficult to truly access, assess, and enforce. And the worst thing a democracy can do is pass a law that it doesn't intend to enforce. It's much better to have limited laws and enforced them vigorously than far reaching laws that are not taken seriously and enforced rigorously. A high quality of democracy involved pluralism, and in a way competition. And diversity, not only in politics, but in civil society. And in the terrain of interest groups, of vying for preferences, policies, and benefits for their respective constituencies.

So we find a civil society, that's a terrain of numerous NGOs and interest groups representing a broad range of constituencies, and values in society. A vigorous civil society involves, not just interest groups, lobbying for specific benefits. But, nongovernmental organizations and think tanks, that are trying to raise the quality of the public space more generally. Improve the political process. Improve the functioning and quality of democracy and of governance. By lobbying for political reform, by monitoring what different agencies of government and political parties. And legislatures are doing, and by exposing wrong doing, abuses of power, abuses of government funding and so on. It is vital in a high quality democracy, that the public have access to alternative sources of information. This means a diverse, mass media with multiple sources of ownership. with access to many points of view, and that is independent of government control. Even if there is like in Britain with the British Broadcasting Corporation. a mass media agency that has public support, it's important then that that body, like the Public Broadcasting Corporation in the United States, be independent of government control, be neutral. Government ownership and regulation of the mass media, should be very sparing. In a liberal democracy, very limited. The media should be diverse with a multiplicity of views, pluralistic, and predominantly private. What is vertical accountability? Well we have different dimensions by which the public hold their agents. The elected officials accountable. Some of these are electoral in nature. electoral accountability is the most obvious instrument of vertical accountability through elections at different levels. The people or different elements of society can compete for the attention of their public office holders, compete for policies. And hold their elective office holders accountable, including by removing them for bad performance for self-seeking behavior. For the exercise of or vulnerability to

special interest group lobbying or by a lack of attention to the public good or the interest of constituencies that want more influence and attention. But electoral accountability is not the only way in which society can hold it's agents, public officials, accountable. There are other elements of what we call societal accountability that involve NGOs and interest groups. Lobbying both with specific messaging to members of the parliament, public appeals monitoring of what government does activity, advocacy, reporting in the mass media. And generally a public that is vigilant and mobilized to pay attention to what government does. And expose wrongdoing through traditional media, through news social media, through the blogosphere and individual reporting photojournalism, evidence of corruption and malfeasance in office or of apathy by public official. All of these have a role to play in the new generation of societal accountability which often takes, in the era we live in, a digital form.