MUN BRIEFING PAPER
Democracy vs. Dictatorship
Hello delegates, I’m Christy Wilson and this is my Briefing Paper! I’m going to be joint SecretaryGeneral for our conference this year along with Andrew Connal, and together we shall be chairing
Security Council. This will be my 10th and last conference but I’m sure this will be the best
conference I’ve ever had the pleasure to be a part of. I realise that being a delegate at an MUN
conference can be daunting, especially in the Security Council, however I completely understand
what it feels like to stand up and speak in front of many people. Fear not - this Briefing Paper will
equip you with knowledge to help you on your way to writing Position Papers and Resolutions. I
look forward to meeting you all in March and to chairing truly wonderful debates throughout the
weekend.
A constant argument that gets batted about the floor at MUN is “How does the UN ensure
democracy?”. It would not be surprising if you had attended a conference or in fact been part of
debate where some delegate representing a State had announced that their country does not believe
in democracy, perhaps they argued that a dictatorship is more suitable. This would be because the
political state of their country was incongruous with the recommendations of the UN. In other
words, the UN will have politely told them to uphold democratic rights and much like an adolescent
teenager, they will not have listened. As the UN points out in its charter, the UN is not allowed to
infringe upon the sovereignty of Member States. Therefore, resolutions submitted by the UN and
charters outlined by the UN are merely guidelines for countries to follow. This means that if there is
a political crisis, the UN does not have the right to enter a country and completely take charge of its
political system. In addition, the UN recognises that each country has an individual political
identity, however it urges that this ‘political identity’ must not harm the fundamental rights and
freedoms of citizens.
So how does the UN ensure that the government of each State protects and provides these political
rights? The UN must strike a delicate balance to make sure that they are not imposing on a nation,
but also must ensure that they are in fact helping those in need of help. With this in mind. let’s get
started...
As I have previously mentioned, the UN aims to ensure that each Member State complies with the
guidelines set out to maintain democratic rights. These rights are outlined throughout the UNDHR,
but mainly in Article 21. Essentially, it explains that “everyone has the right to take part in
government”, that “everyone has the right of equal access to public service” and that “genuine
elections shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent
free voting procedures”. In a UN manner, they have repeatedly used the word “free”. Although this
is a simple word, it is perhaps the most challenging part of the charter for some countries.
Firstly, the most undemocratic way of governing a country is dictatorship. Evidently, in a
dictatorship, the dictator is the one who runs the country. Often it is the case, that the dictator will
use all their power to ensure that their own selfish needs are satisfied before the basic needs of their
people. We can see this is true in political situations all around the world - the elite groups are
acting in a kleptocratic way. This can come in various forms, from stealing from the people, using
national taxes to benefit themselves rather than the country, arbitrary detention and torture to the
detriment of basic rights. All in all, dictators try to ensure that they stay in power for as long as
possible. This often means bending the democratic rules or the UN guidelines in anyway they see
fit. Citizens often face gross human rights abuses and it is partly the duty of the UN to stop this.
George Watson’s College MUN Conference 2013
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As we have seen in the Arab Spring, the will of the people can be massive- it can change
governments, political regimes and it can even overturn dictatorships. But this was done by the
means of the blood and tears of the innocent citizens of the country. Although some nations did
achieve the desired end result, there was gruesome civil unrest. Surely it is within the UN’s
capabilities to find a solution that satisfies both parties avoiding such unrest, and its enormous costs
- a solution that does not sacrifice the lives of many people.
Yet, a dictatorship can be identified in another way, it can also be said that dictators are slightly
more sneaky when trying to remain in control. The UNDHR states that the right to vote shall be
exercised by all. Often it is not too challenging to discover whether elections have taken place at all,
rather it is more difficult to uncover the truth behind unstable elections. Nepotism, corruption and
blackmail votes are some of the most common ways to ensure that the elite group stay in power.
There have been many cases where the UN has gone in with the intentions of rectifying voting
procedures, but as soon as the UN officials and troops have left the country, those in power return it
to its original political state, for example in Zimbabwe. The UN needs to take action that will have a
long-term effect and that will change oppressive political regimes. But, always bear in mind, that the
UN can not over step its boundaries.
Next, and more generally, how can the UN ensure that citizens have political rights? As I have
previously established, a democratic state is not possible without democratic rights. But overseeing
this is a tall order for the UN. Although the UN is a powerful organisation it cannot physically
oversee political situations in all parts of the world purely because they do not have enough
resources. Therefore, they have to place some element of trust in the governments of each State.
Although the Human Rights Charter outlines what the freedoms of citizens should be, it does not
provide guidelines for how these rights should be guaranteed, thus leaving it in the hands of the
nation state to do so. However, perhaps some nations need more guidance on this than others. How
does the UN ensure that it gives support to countries so that they can flourish to become fully
politically stable and democratically-friendly nations?
Here are a few points of consideration before beginning to write your Position Papers and
Resolutions:
What is the political climate like in that country that I represent?
Have we at any point in the country’s recent history utilised a civilian mass movement to try and
steer the government?
Have we recently overcome political unrest?
Are the democratic needs of our citizens fulfilled?
Do we violate the democratic guidelines set out by the UN?
What does our country feel should be done about dictatorships.
Is it an international interest, a national interest or is it a an interest reserved for the UN?
Obviously, there is a lot to cover in one Resolution, but it can be done! Please come to the
conference with a Resolution on at least two topics; this will give us a lot more choice when
choosing a Resolution to debate, and it will certainly make lobbying a lot more exciting. You must
also send in a Position Paper on each of the four topics up for debate to Andrew or myself by Friday
the 15th of February. A Position Paper is a brief summary which expresses your country’s point of
view of the topics. It does not have to be extensive, approximately 50 words per topic is sufficient. If
you do not send in a Position Paper you will not be in the running for an award. Therefore, it is in
George Watson’s College MUN Conference 2013
MUN BRIEFING PAPER
your best interests to send in a Position Paper and to send it in on time! My email address is
[email protected] . I look forward to reading them!
Now that you have some information to get you started, please go on to research more about these
topics and especially what your country thinks. Here are some useful websites for topics;
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml
http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/democracy/
http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/undpa/main/issues/elections
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/democraticgovernance/overview.html
http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/democracy/pdfs/UNDPfastfactsFINAL.pdf
Where can I find information about global issues?
http://www.newint.org/
http://www.idebate.org/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/
Where can I find out more information about my country?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld
If you have any concerns or you are utterly baffled by the topics, please feel free to email me, I am
always happy to help out fellow MUNers. I hope you all enjoy writing your Position Papers and
Resolutions and I look forward to meeting you all in March!
Christy
George Watson’s College MUN Conference 2013