FEW nations celebrate their history and traditions with the same pomp and pageantry as the British. And over the last week, there was much to celebrate: the 200th anniversary of the victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo; the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta; and the annual Royal Ascot horse races.

The battlefield of Waterloo in Belgium is nothing much to look at: a rather drab, dull landscape of fields and gently undulating terrain. Without knowing this is where the destiny of Europe was decided for a century, a stranger to history would drive past without giving the place a second glance. And yet, here a titanic battle took place where, partly due to bad weather and partly due to his errors, Napoleon Bonaparte’s mighty French army was defeated, and his ambitions checked.

But his defeat meant a long pause in the spread of the revolutionary ideas that emerged from the cauldron of the French Revolution of 1789. Although Napoleon was an ambitious general (hence the term Bonapartism), the idealistic fervour unleashed by the revolution spelled the end of monarchism, and a weakening of the grip the Church had over millions of Catholics.

Had Britain and the anti-Napoleon alliance under Wellington lost the battle, the history of Europe would have been very different. Many kingdoms would probably have toppled, and ideas about democracy and secularism — the pillars of the French Revolution — would have spread. As it is, the counter-revolution kept many ruling dynasties in place for another century until they were swept away in the First World War.

Britain, however, was a pioneer in introducing democratic principles as early as June 15, 1215, when the Magna Carta was sealed by King John at Runneymeade, then a boggy field near Windsor. The Great Charter laid down the limits of power of kings. At the time, this was a revolutionary idea as monarchs were supposed to rule under the ‘divine right of kings’. Although the Magna Carta was hardly a ringing declaration of civil liberties, it did lay down the rights of the Church, the principle of swift justice, and the limits of feudal payments to the Crown. But above all, it established the freedom of barons from arbitrary arrest.

Although struck down very soon by Pope Innocent III, it was reissued by John’s successor, Henry III. It took until 1297 for the Magna Carta to be confirmed as English statute law. This, then, was the foundation stone of Britain’s slowly evolving democracy.

So when we complain about the inadequacies of democracy in Pakistan, we need to remember that democratic values need time to put down roots. A constitution, regular elections and a parliament are not enough in themselves to ensure a functioning democracy that provides equal rights. In our part of the world, democracy is seen as a means of achieving power; it does not ensure accountability or good governance.

Despite the success of centuries of democratic government in Britain, there are real concerns about the long-term viability of its present parliamentary form, specially after the recent general elections. These saw aberrations like Ukip winning just one seat with 13 per cent of the vote, while the Conservative Party won an outright majority with 331 seats with 37pc of the vote.

The distorting results of the first-past-the-post can be seen by the fact that it took the Scottish National Party just around 26,000 votes to win one parliamentary seat; for the Tories it was 33,000 votes per seat; and for Labour, 39,000 votes per seat. But the Greens took 1.1 million votes for their single seat, and for Ukip, it was an outrageous 3.8m for their solitary seat.

The danger is that when millions see their vote not counting for anything under such a system, they will be discouraged from taking part. Another cause for concern is the apparent disenchantment of the young from the electoral process. In the recent election, around 60pc of those between 18 and 24 voted. While this might seem high, the overall turnout was 71pc.

Inevitably, there have been demands for electoral reforms, led earlier by the Liberal Democrats. But the party suffered a major setback when it lost the 2011 referendum by a huge margin. Nevertheless, the recent skewed results will revive demands for reform, specially by smaller parties whose support is scattered, though substantial.

But despite these disappointing results for parties like Ukip and the Green Party, there has been no suggestion that any malpractices took place. Only George Galloway of his one-man Respect Party seems to have lodged an appeal, but his opponent had such a big lead over her maverick opponent, that nobody thinks Galloway has a chance of being taken seriously.

The ongoing contest to select a new Labour leader gives us another demonstration of genuine democracy. Under the party’s procedures, each candidate needs the support of at least 35 MPs before his or her name can be considered. Four have completed this requirement. Now, they must canvas for support among the party’s membership for the election that is due in September. This is a far cry from our dynastic and dictatorial party structure. Only the Jamaat-i-Islami conducts an election for its party leadership.

But if South Asia’s political parties reflect the hold dynasties have over them, just look what’s happening in the United States. Here, there is every chance that the 2016 presidential election will be fought out between a Clinton and a Bush.

The third traditional event marked in Britain is the Royal Ascot, a celebration of very expensive horse flesh witnessed by men in tails and top hats, and fashionably clad ladies with elaborate hats. The Queen is a keen race-goer, with several horses from her stable running in various races spread over five days. She is often viewed beaming with pleasure when one of her horses does well, must be glad King John sealed the Magna Carta 800 years ago.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play