Legitimate memory
The second element in an assessment of democratic memory would be that a democratically elected government or state supports it through resources and official recognition , so it has electoral and institutional legitimacy . Here , the notion of resilient institutions that uphold the letter of the law and can keep citizens “ on board ” with memory culture is important , but there is also an element here of keeping citizens “ in line ” – meaning that the state to some extent has the role of protecting the memory narratives that voters have given the government a mandate for – even when it means practicing some level of surveillance and policing of counter-memorial activity that has democratic objectives . Thus , we might argue that the memory policies of the Polish government up to 2023 , which was democratically elected , hold a certain level of democratic legitimacy .
However , they have been strongly criticised by Polish civil society leaders , as well as by international institutions and observers , for undermining critical historical research and an honest working through of complex legacies of resistance , collaboration and complicity during the Holocaust . On the flip side , the German Democratic Republic is an example of a dictatorial state that ( at least nominally ) promoted public commemoration of the experience of persecution by the Nazis , probably mostly against the resistance of the general public . Thus , democratic state legitimacy is no guarantee of democratic public memory , while non-democratic states can promote norms that may be seen as a component of democratic remembrance .
3 . Macron undertaking an act of commemoration at Memorial de la Shoah . January 2020 . Picture : US Ambassador to France . Public domain per 17 U . S . C . § 101 and § 105 and the Department of Copyright Information
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Observing Memories Issue 7