The Brand of Democracy

The Brand of Democracy

After 1989 the Romanian Revolution which led to the end of the communist era, in Romania, the hope and need of progress and human flourish was felt. Romanians had to learn all over again the way towards democracy and liberty. Romania had to cooperate with the other States, to reinforce the democratic values and the values of human rights, to fight against the terrorism and for the stabilization of the region, to develop the economy and to participate to the strategic process of the transformation of the army (the military strategic transformation of the Alliance). It had to be understood that Romania could flourish and prosper in the current international political, economic and cultural realities only if it would cooperate with the Western countries which had a long democratic tradition as well as a long experience in the field of cooperation between countries and nations. One point of view from which we could start our arguments is that: in order to attain the prosperity, progress and human flourish a former totalitarian country needs to base its ascendance on democracy, freedom and cooperation. A new wave of ideas was brought to the attention of the Romanian leaders after 2000 when some international specialists in the Country Branding proposed to Romania a Country Branding program. This program would have ensured a better international image and also would have proven internationally that progresses is and will be made towards the democracy and the western values but also from the economical point of view. The originality of the following arguments consists in approaching this theme from the image point of view: the brand of democracy and its relation to the prosperity, progress and human flourish.

Raymond Duncan Gastil in „The Comparative Survey on Freedom: Experiences and Suggestions” explains which are the measurable elements to obtain the degree of freedom and democracy in different countries. Two indicators allow the measurement of these values: the political rights and the civilian freedom. Thanks to Gastil’s studies we have a starting point in the analysis of the Brand of Democracy. It opens the way of the study between the brand mechanisms and those of the political democracy. But it is essential to talk about these two elements because the progress of the societies as they are today is due to these two elements: the democracy and the brand; and these factors lead to prosperity, progress and human flourish.

Raymond Duncan Gastil was preoccupied with the intuitive system which evaluated the levels of freedom and democracy, as they are described by the political rights and the civilian freedom in the tradition of the Western countries. The study was made on the period 1975-1989 for different countries, but the answers are still interesting as a guidance line of the future studies. According to Gastil the freedom has always been understood in comparison with the democracy. There are systems with limited freedom and systems which offer a lot of freedom in order to be democratic. „ The party system is inefficient and the lack of party discipline means that the majority of senators and representatives cannot be asked to answer in front of the electorate for the success or the failure of the successive governs. [...] The poor societies which have two classes separated by a large difference have a weaker democratic performance.”[1]

The political rights are concentrated around the designation/election of the representatives: free and correct elections, political campaign, and the distribution of power, more than one political party confronting themselves in the campaign, the negative votes, and the right to auto determination, decentralized power and consensus. Among the civilian liberties Gastil includes the freedom of the media and of the literature from censorship, public debate, the freedom to gather and to manifest, the freedom of the political organizations, the rule of law, the free state, the freedom of economic activities, the freedom of the religious institutions, the private organizations, the personal freedom (property, travel, family, marriage), the freedom of socio-economic inequalities and the freedom against the political indifference and the corruption. These elements are opposed to the systems without popular process as the inherited monarchies and the totalitarian regimes as the communist one as it happened in Romania till 1989. The choice of designating a political representative and the choice in general is a factor which leads to prosperity, progress and human flourish. Gastil insists on the political elections in order to point out their role in the constitution and maintenance of democracy. These elements are accessible and allow the evaluation of the democratic character of the state. The measurement of the democratic rights can also be helped by counting the negative votes. The majority of the democracies are homogenous. The federal democracies have elaborated methods to separate the divisions of the state in order to be able to govern themselves. The problem of the centralization was that the political boundaries continue to make the citizens feel like strangers in their own country. The auto determination was strictly related to the way in which the political power was decentralized. An interesting point is how the political decision-making depends or not on the majority and if the consensus between all groups is sought when major problems of public interest are debated. “A democracy should be more than a society based on winners and losers. […] The informal distribution of power has a particular importance in order to judge the degree of success of the democracy of political parties which is based on the legitimacy and the will to attain a national consensus”[2].

Even if Gastil’s analysis was made on a different period, the theoretical elements of his thesis are still useful for the analysis of the relation between freedom, democracy and the brand.

The Brand of Democracy can be interpreted in more than one way. The democracy can be a brand because the democracy is wanted and promoted, it has a theory and there are strategies issued from this theory in order to transform a state into a democracy. A second interpretation can be that the democracy gives to the public the possibility to be creative. The brand of democracy can be analyzed according to the relation between the commercial brands and the way the political democracy works. This parallel shows in fact the factors that lead to prosperity, progress and human flourish, from both the political and marketing point of view.

Democracy as we said before is about freedom in general but also freedom of choice. The citizens of a democratic state have the choice. They have access to a large number of possibilities, the freedom to chose and change their minds in all the aspects of their lives as consumers of anything ( services or products), this is what makes them prosper, progress and flourish as human beings and as individuals members of a group. All this is possible because of the freedom of choice and of its results (in both ways of the comparison). Everyone goes to vote at the elections as everyone chooses a brand or another, supports or not a brand, is loyal or not to a brand. The results of our choices may come immediately (where the brand is concerned), later or never (in politics). Giving to the public the creative power, in the sense of giving them the power of expressing oneself and the right to chose is one of the major roles of the brand which works due to the communication between the brand and the client and vice versa. The brands work, can be developed and survive only in countries where they can find enough freedom; the freedom to create, to chose, to be in competition most likely to be found in democratic countries. The brands need a free market economy and to be able to share the wealth in order to sustain the development of the prosperity and the work places. The brands have appeared when the economy developed and the people’s possibility to learn, work and earn money in free countries, where the need of choice and competition came naturally. The history of the brands allows us to understand how they were able to touch the public’s emotions and desires. The messages of the brands introduced the public, since the beginning, into an ideal world, a better world, as the democracy did. The brands transmitted messages about well being, progress, and happiness and in general about the future and what could be. These all could be possible only if the consumers could financially afford the products and services or if these products or services where accessible (in the communist Era there was no choice because the international brands were not accessible). The brands are younger than we may think. As the specialists in this field state, in the States the brands are almost one hundred years old but in Europe they have almost fifty years old while in some countries they are just an ideal. The brands are the proof of the economic progress.

For many people nowadays the brands represent the freedom of choice of products and services of a better quality and the choice of a better quality of life. In the mature economies the brands answer to the social the psychological and spiritual needs of our lives. And the sensitive way of answering to these needs creates the evolution of desires and aspirations of the public. These desires are a part of the complex dream of prosperity, progress and human flourish. In the brand democracy the consumers vote when choosing a brand, when they buy products every day. There is a two ways relation between the consumers and the brands. Their communication and mutual trust are imperative.

The Brand designers have to be in a permanent relation with the clients, they need to prove the quality of their services and their long lasting motivation in order to last on the market. If the Brand is directly related to the democracy and to freedom, then there also must be an ethical contract between brands and clients, based on respect and vision and quality principles which are based on the values and principles that the people appreciate and value the most. The Brands are also a promise of the prosperity and progress of the consumer’s life.

Some brand experts[3] consider that the brands are more democratic than the formal democratic institutions including the elections and the government. If a consumer is not willing to purchase a brand because that consumer doesn’t like it anymore, he or she is making a statement, a choice visible at that moment. The people, who vote for a candidate, lose their power of choice until the next elections and also the power to influence the present of the politics. We can also say that there is no control on the future of the promises that the politician make during their campaign. No one can know for sure that those promises are going to be kept. Meanwhile the brand needs to keep its promises in order to survive and to grow. Both the client’s vote and the profit are a kind of return of investment because the existence and the prosperity of the brand are related to the consumer’s vote (as a source of profit). The profit is generated by the client’s satisfaction. The affective and value capital produce profit if the promises are kept. This can also be said about the politics in a certain way, but the profit is more difficult to be measured and it takes a lot of time. The relation between the brand and the consumers is closer than in the case of the relations between the public and the politicians. The Government doesn’t need the consensus of the electorate on every single problem; some of them are not even debated in public. They don’t need a vote on every case. The Business seems to have won the race with the politics in the role of force of social change. And a government should be more responsible and more sensitive to those who gave them a voice if they were to be considered brands.

The brands are reinforced due to the fact that they answer to the public needs. The governments arrive at the top of the power and keep it also because of their capacity to threat and punish (as would Foucault say). The politicians receive the votes based on their promises during the campaign and the brands receive the votes for the results of their work. The votes for the brands are renewed very often as the brand opens new lines on the market or launches new products. While in politics there is the law of “all or nothing” in the case of the brands there are no winners and losers. From the vote received for a political program there are no details about which part of the program finally received the vote. The rate cost/benefit is easier to calculate in the case of the brand. When voting for a brand the consumer pays directly to the cashier. The relation between the candidate’s vote and the taxes cannot be calculated. As a conclusion, in order to improve the government’s brand you have to improve the democratic process, reinforce the law and the rule of law and the transparency.

The relation between the brand and the democracy is not a new one. The father of modern American democracy, Thomas Jefferson, never imagined the brand of his government in a non-agrarian society. A part of the brands of consume are born as the Jefferson’s world disappeared. In the XIX-Th century, the massive migration of the population towards the city showed that the consumers didn’t know anymore where the products they purchased came from. The brand’s evolution made possible for them to know who the producers are. The brand made possible the opening of the markets in order to be accessible to as many consumers as possible. All these factors made the evolution of the market possible. The trade gave power to the Western countries. It is there that the modern democracy evolved (according to the theory of the development of the world economy[4]).

Between Gastil’s list of liberties and the brand specialist we can find a common idea: the freedom to have a passport and to earn money (in order to be able to travel) are essential freedoms that are directly related to the brands. The people who travel are individual ambassadors who transmit the cultural values of their country of origin. In order to prosper and to flourish and to be happy, people need to learn more and to travel more in order to learn things that they wouldn’t be able to know otherwise.

By measuring the democracy of a country according to Gastil’s indicators we can find out which are the chances for a brand to have success in that country. On the other hand, it has been proven by the current studies that the brand is the result of the most democratic process possible. The brands would not exist without the active participation of the consumers, their votes are visible and measurable at any time and without these votes the brands would disappear.

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[1] Raymond Duncan GASTIL, “The Comparative Survey on Freedom: Experiences and Suggestions”, On Measuring Democracy, ed. By Alex Inkeles, Ed. Transaction Publishers, New Jersey, 1991. p.23.

[2] Raymond Duncan GASTIL, “The Comparative Survey on Freedom: Experiences and Suggestions”, On Measuring Democracy, op cit. p.31.

[3] http://www.brandchannel.com

[4] Andrew C. JANOS, “The Politics of backwardness in Continental Europe 1780-1945”, World Politics, Vol.41, Nr.3, April 1989, pp.325-358, http://links.jstor.org.

For pet owners ( special thanks to whom may have wrote this)

"To be posted VERY LOW on the refrigerator door - pet nose height...

Dear Dogs and Cats:
The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years --canine or feline attendance is not required.

The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough!

And, to pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door:

To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets:

1. They live here. You don't.
2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it "fur"niture.
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, they are an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly.

Remember: Dogs and cats are better than kids because they:

1. Eat less
2. Don't ask for money all the time
3 Are easier to train
4. Normally come when called
5. Never ask to drive the car
6. Don't hang out with drug-using friends
7. Don't smoke or drink
8. Don't have to buy the latest fashions
9. Don't want to wear your clothes
10. Don't need a gazillion dollars for college, and...
11. If they get pregnant, you can sell their children"

L'Etudiante

Sophie Marceau dans un film d'amour. L'Etudiante est un film avec beaucoup de charme. Sophie Marceau joue le role d'une jeune femme qui est en train de se preparer pour son Agregation et devenir professeur, elle rencontre dans une telegondole au ski un jeune homme musicien et compositeur qui va la surprendre. L'histoire de leur amour commence avec une rencontre banale mais ce transforme dans une histoire pleine de passion. Comment vont les deux skieurs faire connaissance? Vont-ils trouver des points communs? Une histoire d'amour entre deux gens completement differents qui peuvent peut etre se completer?

Sophie Marceau intr-un film de dragoste. Studenta este un film cu mult sarm. Sophie Marceau interpreteaza rolul unei femei tinere care se pregateste de concursul de "agregation" pentru a deveni profesoara. Ea il intalneste pe El intr-o telegondola pe pista de ski. El este muzician si compozitor si o va surprinde. Povestea dragostei lor incepe cu o intalnire in aparenta banala si intamplatoare dar se transforma intr-o poveste plina de pasiune. Cum vor cunostinta cei doi skiori? Vor gasi ei oare puncte comune pe care sa cladeasca o relatie? Este o poveste de dragoste intre doua persoane complet diferite dar care se pot completa?

Sophie Marceau in a love story. The Student is a movie with a lot of charm. Sophie Marceau plays the role of an young woman preparing her "agreation" exam for becoming a teacher. She meets a musician and composer during a ski trip to the mountains. Their love story stats with a random meeting and it transforms itself into a story full of passion. How will they meet? Will they find things in common in order to base a lasting relationship? They are totally diferent can they still complete themselves?

Fanfan

Sophie Marceau et Vincent Perez dans un film sur la conquete amoureuse et la recherche de preserver les premiers sentiments le long de la relation. Alexandre a une relation stable et est sur le point de se marier mais il rencontre Fanfan qui reveilla en lui les sentiments les plus beau du debut d'une relation. Il essaye de faire durer ces sentiments en gardant l'innocence du debut. Il croit avoir trouve la solution. Ce film peut etre la reponse a des questions que nous nous posons au moment ou l'on commence une relation. Comment faire pour que ca dure, pour que nos sentiments restent vives? C'est une question a laquelle il faut absolument repondre a deux.

Sophie Marceau si Vincent Perez intr-un film despre cucerirea dragostei si cautarea preservarii primelor sentimente pe parcursul intregii relatii. Alexandre are o relatie stabila si este pe cale sa se casatoreasca dar o intalneste pe Fanfan care trezeste in el cele mai frumoase sentimente ale inceputului unei relatii. El incearca sa permanentizeze aceste sentimente pastrand inocenta inceputului si crede ca a gasit solutia. Acest film poate fi raspunsul intrebarilor pe care ni le punem in momentul in care incepem o relatie. Cum sa facem ca aceste sentimente sa dureze, pentru ca aceste sentimente sa ramana vii? Este o intrebare la care trebuie sa se raspunda in doi.

Sophie Marceau and Vincent Perez in a movie about the quest of love and the search of preserving the first feelings during the whole relation. Alexandre has a long lasting relationship and is about to get married but the encounter of Fanfan wakes the most beautiful feelings in him, the ones of the begining of a relationship. He tries to make these feelings last by holding on to the innocence of the begining and he thinks that he has found the answer. This movie can be the answer to our questions when starting a relationship. How can we make these feelings last? How do we keep them alive? These are questions that we can only answer together.

Je reste (2003)

Un film avec Sophie Marceau, Vincent Perez, Charles Berling. Marie-Dominique et Bertrand forment un couple apparement uni. Seulement en apparence car tandis que Marie-Dominique fait tout pour que la famille soit en parfaite harmonie Bertrand son mari qui travaille comme ingenieur sur des projets dans le monde entier, passe son temps entre son egoisme excentrique, les avions, hotesses de l'air et sa grande passion le velo. Marie-Dominique le suit en consacrant sa vie a soutenir son mari et a s'occuper de leur enfant. Sa rencontre avec Antoine ecrivain et qui tout comme elle est amateur de cinema et d'art, reveille ses desirs de devenir une femme independente et de s'epanouir. Elle decide alors grace a sa nouvelle relation amoureuse de quitter Bertrand, mais celui-ci ne se laisse pas vaincre et fait tout pour empecher sa femme de partir.
C'est un film plein de surprises dans lequel on peut reconnaitre des traits de caractere de personnes qu'on connait dans la vie reelle.

Un film cu Sophie Marceau,Vincent Perez, Charles Berling. Marie-Dominique si cu Bertrand formeaza un cuplu in aparenta unit. Numai in aparenta pentru ca in timp ce Marie-Dominique face tot pentru ca familia ei sa fie in perfecta armonie, Bertrand sotul ei, care lucreaza ca inginer la niste proiecte internationale, isi petrece timpul intre egoismul excentric, avioane, stewardeze si marea sa pasiune ciclismul. Marie-Dominique il urmeaza si isi consacra viata sustinerii sotului sau si ingrijirii copilului lor. Insa intalnirea sa cu scriitorul Antoine care ca si ea este pasionat de cinema si de arta, ii trezeste dorinta de a inflori si de a deveni o femeie independenta. Relatia sa amoroasa cu Antoine o incurajeaza sa se desparta de Bertrand si sa inceapa o viata noua dar acesta nu se lasa invins de noile ambitii ale sotiei sale si face orice ca sa o impiedice sa plece de acasa.
Este un film plin de surprize in care putem recunoaste reactii si comportamente ale unor oameni pe care ii cunoastem in viata reala.

A movie with Sophie Marceau, Vincent Perez, Charles Berling. Marie-Dominique and Bertrand seem like a solid couple. It is only an appearence because while Marie-Dominique does all she can for maintaining a perfect harmony in her family, Betrand her husband, who works in the constructions and has project all over the world,spends his time between his excentric selfishness, plains, steward ladies and his passion cyclism. Marie-Dominique follows him and spends her time with supporting her husband and their son. The meeting with Antoine a writer and a cinematography and art fan like her,woke up in her the desire to grow and become an independent woman. The love affaire with Antoine encourages her to break up with Bertrand and to begin a new life but Bertrand doesn't give up and does all he can to stop his wife from leaving.
It is a movie full of surprizes and unexpected situations in which we can recognize reactions and the behavior of people we know in real life.

Ensemble c'est tout***

Un autre film avec Audrey Tautou, sur l'amitie, l'amour et l'humanite. Qui merite a etre vu pour son histoire ainsi que pour les acteurs. Une love story a la francaise avec beaucoup de realisme et naturellement petillant par-ci, par-la. C'est aussi un filme sur la noblesse des gens, que ce soit la noblesse de l'ame ou le rang herite. C'est un filme interessant a voir pour rappeller et faire connaitre a ceux qui ne savent pas beaucoup sur les familles nobles de l'Europe de l'Est. Leurs descendents gardent encore en heritage la tradition et les manieres qui malheureusement se sont presque completement dissipees dans les societe modernes europeennes et occidentales.

Un alt film cu Audrey Tautou despre prietenie, dragoste si umanitate. Care merita a fi vazut atat pentru poveste cat si pentru actori. Un love-story tipic francez, cu mult realism si naturalete. Este un film despre nobletea oamenilor, despre nobletea sufletului si nobletea data de rangul mostenit. Este un film interesant de vazut, care aminteste celor care cunosc si arata celor care nu stiu nimic despre familiile nobile din Europa de Est. Urmasii lor, pastreaza in continuare ca mostenire traditia si manierele care din pacate au disparut aproape complet in societatile moderne europene si occidentale.

Another movie with Audrey Tautou about friendship, love and humanity. It is worthy seeing it because of the story but also for the actors. It is a tipycal french love story , with a lot of realism and a natural excitement. It is a movie about people's noblesse, the soul's and the one inherited as a social rank. It is an interesting movie which reminds for those who know and shows for those who don't know what the East European Noblesse is about. Their descendants keep the value of their inheritance of the tradition and the manners which, unfortunately, have disappeared almost completely in the modern european and occidental societies.

***Le nouveau film de Claude Berri, Ensemble c'est tout, Pathé Distribution avec Audrey Tautou, Guillaume Canet, Laurent Stocker et Francoise Bertin, un film d'apres le roman d'Anna Gavalda.

A la follie, pas dutout

Un filme avec Audrey Tautou qui joue le role d'une jeune fille amoureuse.
C'est l'histoire d'un amour impossible, d'un amour obsessif qui touche le pathologique.
Une mise en scene un peu speciale, un va et vien dans l'histoire. Le spectateur verra les deux cotes de l'histoire comme dans deux plaidoyers des parties opposees.
Tout se deroule dans le rythme du battement du coeur d'Angelique qui tombe follement et subitement amoureuse de Loic. Le reste est a voir si vous avez la patience de regarder un filme originalement francais.

Un film cu Audrey Tautou care joaca rolul unei fete indragostite.
Este povestea unei iubiri imposibile, unei iubiri obsesive care atinge patologicul.
O scenografie un pic speciala, un dialog intre doua puncte de vedere. Filmul are o structura asemanatoare unei pledoarii tinuta de fiecare dintre cele doua parti opuse.
Totul se desfasoara in ritmul batailor inimii lui Angelique care se indragosteste nebuneste si in mod subit de Loic. Restul ramane de vazut daca aveti rabdarea sa vedeti un film original francez.

A movie with Audrey Tautou, who plays the role of a girl in love.
It is a story about an impossible love, an obsessive love which touches the pathology.
The scenario is a bit special, it is a dialog between two different points of view. Everything happens in the rythm of the heart beats of Angelique's heart who suddenly and madly in love with Loic. The rest is to be seen if you have the patience to watch an original french movie.