Tyrone English, Argumentation

SCOM 1000

Argumentation is the driving force of politics and academia. Without discourse, there would be

no new theory or political change. I chose to cover a debate from the Intelligence Squared,

which is a media company that hosts live debates involving scholars from all around the world.

My debate covers whether or not rises in nationalism in America and Britain threatens western

democracy. The two debaters in favor of the notion that democracy is threatening suicide are

Bernard-Henry Levy (french philosopher and journalist) and Yascha Mounk (author and Harvard

lecturer), and those against the notion are Clive Crook of the Bloomberg review and Kori Shake

(Deputy Director of the IISS) The primary claim of the argument challenges the theory that

Democracy will always correct itself. That it’s possible that the people of these countries could

make a choice or a series of choices so bad that the future of democracy as we know it could be

compromised. The opposing side argues that although the rising surge of populism has led to

bad choices in leaders and policy, the democratic process will come around in the end. Cook

states that he believes that democracy doesn’t protect the citizens from mistakes, but “leaves the

power in our hands so that we can correct those mistakes.” To back this claim he used the fact

that checks and balances are integrated into all western democratic systems, and he uses the

several times Donald Trump has been checked by Congress as an example. The side in defense

of capitalism also backed their claim by stating that western democracy isn’t solely defined by

British and American leadership, and as these countries face surges in right wing politics other

western nations like Germany and France will rise to the fore of liberal democracy. On the

contrary, Levy and Mounk argued that the United States is starting to turn it’s back on global

institutions, which can cause the rise of alternate powers such as China and Russia. They also
Tyrone English, Argumentation

argued that Donald Trump is exposing and exploiting flaws in the American political system by

attacking the free press, condemning court decisions, and other abuses of power. As witnesses

and victims of such political actions, the citizens of the US and England will start to prioritize

social change over political stability. This need for social change will manifest in candidates

with more left leaning views as younger generations become less interested in living in a

traditional democratic society. The side that believes western democracy is being threatened

committed a hasty generalization fallacy by referring to the US and England as they are all of the

western world . The opposing side committed a forced hypothesis fallacy by assuming that

voters in these two nation voted this way because they believed their country needed to be

reigned in when in reality there are various reasons for this rightward move in politics.
Tyrone English, Argumentation

Works Cited

Western Democracy Is Threatening Suicide. (2019, February 21). Retrieved from

https://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/western-democracy-threatening-suicide