Unearthed from the bottomless pit of forgotten blog drafts is a 2007 paper by Northern Illinois University anthropologist Giovanni Bennardo, in which he claims that groups hinder democracy.
Bennardo’s work is part of ongoing research about democratic movements in the Kingdom of Tonga, for which he earned an NSF grant. (Tonga is the only remaining Polynesian monarchy.) Specifically, Bennardo looked at the way Tongans conceptualize spatial relationships and realized that their frame of reference differs from Westerners: They use other objects as a reference point, not themselves.
Instead of describing a building as “in front of me” (as a Westerner might), Tongans would say “toward the church.” When drawing pictures of their island, the major town would be placed at the island’s center, even if it was geographically situated near the coast. This was true for both the elite and commoners in Tongan society. This core world view is at odds with the democratic concept of one man, one vote.
“Democracy puts the rights of the individual first, but Tongans are trained from birth to do the opposite,†Bennardo says. “In their society, the extreme importance is attributed to the group over the individual. The ego is highly constrained. That doesn’t mean they can’t understand freedom and democracy, but putting individuals ahead of the group is a tough task for them.â€
Source: Anthropologist finds cultural emphasis on group over individual might hinder democracy (PhysOrg, Oct 12, 2007)
The context of that key finding is therefore more limiting than the headline might suggest. However, the dynamics at work do suggest another lens with which to examine American political discourse.
As Americans, democratic principles are the fabric of our society, whether we talk about economics or speech. The Tongan culture is made from a different fabric, one that makes democracy more difficult to see and implement. The same kind of cultural blindness can be at play with single-issue discussions within American politics. A middle-class family man who has worked hard to avoid poverty will have a more difficult time understanding the value of welfare in stabilizing economies, let alone understanding the vital impact it has on any given recipient. A person who has never owned a company may struggle to grasp the pressure to provide job security to employees, not just generate revenue.
For political discourse to be effective and connecting, the ability to comprehend and empathize with the varied life experiences of others is critical.
