Tony Burman writes that worldwide, democracy is dying:
In October, a Stockholm-based international institute updated its report on “The Global State of Democracy” — a study of the performance of 158 countries since 1975. It reported an “alarming” decline in the past year in the health of democracy worldwide, warning that “democracy’s global rise has come to a halt.”Some of the key features of democratic societies are being unraveled by the state:
According to the study, “the number of countries experiencing democratic decline is now greater than the number experiencing democratic gains,” the first time that’s happened since 1980.
... its basic tenets — including guarantees of free and fair elections, the rights of minorities, freedom of the press and the rule of law — came under attack around the world.”One of the worst offenders is Hungary, as The New York Times reports:
In many ways, Hungary has foreshadowed the democratic backsliding now evident in different corners of the world. Since winning power in 2010, Mr. Orban has steadily eroded institutional checks and balances, especially the independent media. His government now oversees state-owned news outlets, while his allies control most of the country’s private media sources, creating a virtual echo chamber for Mr. Orban’s far right, anti-immigrant views.The results have been devastating for democracy. A leading news website called Origo, once one of the Orban government's most incisive critics, is now one of its biggest boosters:
“Let’s look at the affairs of Laszlo Botka!” a headline blared this month in a salacious take on the only mayor of a major Hungarian city not aligned with Mr. Orban’s party, Fidesz. “Serious scandals, mysteries surround the socialist mayor of Szeged.”Taken for granted, democracy has always been fragile. The need to nurture and protect its traditions has never been greater. Unfortunately today, both internationally and domestically, far too many are content to ignore the depredations of government as long as their own backyard is tended to. People ignore their responsibilities as citizens. Voter turnout is poor. The free press in North America struggles for relevance and revenue as more and more seek their news for free from Twitter and Facebook feeds, both notoriously susceptible to manipulation and fake news.
All the signs of impending democratic disaster are there, but ultimately, the question becomes, "How many people really care?"
Thomas Jefferson believed that a democracy could only survive if citizens were educated and involved, Lorne. I suspect he would be deeply depressed with the state of so called democracies these days.
ReplyDeletePeople's willful ignorance seems at an all-time high, Owen.
DeleteDespite the title of my blog I dont take a lot of time writing about international democracy Lorne. I had thought that with our change of government here in Canada that things were looking a little better here, but with recent changes here in Ontario and in some other provinces I am less optimistic. Democracy is indeed a fragile thing and must be nurtured at every opportunity.
ReplyDeleteWe have grown into a complacent nation, in my view, Rural, taking far too much for granted. I too had hoped things would improve under Trudeau, but we know how that has turned out with his empty promise of electoral reform.
DeleteOwen wrote of the need for the public to be involved in their government. I sense that people are less involved today than ever in my lifetime. Why? Could that be an inevitable effect of neoliberalism that, in turn, seems to fuel the rise of authoritarian administration and the ascent of illiberal democracy?
ReplyDeleteNeoliberal rule plainly weakens the bond between the elected caste and those who elect them, the public they're obliged to serve above all others in a functioning liberal democracy. The rise of special, narrow interests has fractured that essential bond as powerful players, the corporate sector, insinuate themselves between elector and elected. That 2014 Gilens and Page study reveals how America's "bought and paid for" Congress persistently places special interests ahead of the public interest when those two conflict. The public become alienated from the political caste and we perceive that as complacency when it's really a manifestation of their powerlessness. People today are beset by concerns rarely seen in times of peace and yet their political parties even more rarely field policies that resonate with the voters or, as we've seen since 2015, float grand election promises that are freely scrapped once the ballots are counted.
Often I wonder if we aren't in a corrosive world in which special interests - the private sector - and partisan political interests leave the public interest in last place. It certainly feels that way to me. Is that not enough to give us the appearance of complacency?
Frustration with government is clearly high today, Mound, as the rise of populism attests to. And the riots in Paris, as I understand them, are prompted by people's conviction that the Macron government is governing for the elite, not the people.
DeleteWhatever hopelessness we may see in the electorate that I suggested is complacence is something people have to resist. Otherwise, they are sending a very dangerous message to government that few are any longer watching and noting their depredations.
Mute a citizen's voice, deny her political clout, and, instead, empower the voice and clout of the commercial sector, transforms government into some sort of bizarre Chamber of Commerce. Today this seems to be the lingua franca of politics at all levels.
ReplyDeleteContrast this with our last real leader, Pierre Trudeau. He spoke to us of a just society, national unity, and a powerful voice for the people enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Our leadership has degenerated into petit fonctionnaires who would rather transmit messages about things such as "job churn" than fight against corporatist dystopia. Morneau/Trudeau's "let them eat cake" attitude came shining through.
At a time when we desperately need vision, Mound, we are afflicted with arid corporate functionaries and handmaidens.
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