Is Democracy Experiencing a Setback Worldwide?
In this essay, I will be answering the question ‘Is Democracy Experiencing a Setback Worldwide?’. I will do this through referring to current political and religious struggles within authoritarian and supposedly democratic states; furthermore, I will discuss the growing ‘sphere of influence’ of the totalitarian autocracies of China and Russia; and finally, I will review the impact COVID-19 has had on democracy as a whole.
Democracy is facing its worst crisis in decades. According to the thinktank Freedom House in 2020, 64 countries experienced deterioration in their political rights and liberties, whilst only 37 experienced improvements. By the end of the Cold war, 3 decades ago, it seemed clear that liberal democracy had triumphed over totalitarianism. However, democracy worldwide seems to be crumbling in the hands of populist agendas and colossal political autocracies, whether it be the disenfranchisement and blatant stripping of political rights in Islamic areas of India by the Indian Government or the growing ‘sphere of influence’ of Chinese Communist Party in East Europe. Democracy is once again under assault and if we wish to make any progress to restore it, we must recognise what is happening, and where.
Firstly, perhaps the largest and most constant threat to democracy worldwide is the political ideology of populism. The word populism comes from the Latin ‘populus’ meaning people, and describes a political ideology based on appealing to ordinary people who are typically disregarded by the elite, but it often leads to division and anti-democratic sentiments. As exemplified in 1970’s Latin America, if successful, populism frequently pushes weak democracies into competitive authoritarianism, or regimes in which formal democratic institutions exist, but where incumbent abuse tilts the playing field to such an extent that the opposition’s ability to compete is seriously compromised . The recent wave of anti-establishment leaders (usually neoliberally minded) in countries like India, Turkey and Israel, and the subsequent decay of democratic foundations in said counties, can be attributed to the populist approaches to governance and leadership. In Turkey, Erdoğan’s ‘populist playbook’ of economic strategy, religious polarisation, and attacks on independent media, led to the gradual removal of “effective democratic choice” and the decay of Turkey’s once democratic foundations. This itself serves as a model for the anti-democratic effects of populism in power. Furthermore, since 2011, Erdoğan increasingly used the Directorate of Religious Affairs to entrench his own political narratives in mosques, religious and educational institutions , in an attempt to confront the increasing secularist attitudes of Turkish politics.
Similarly, such ethno-religious tensions are also present in populist Modi’s India. India now embodies a religio-nationalist ideology, with potent elements of populism intertwined; an example of this is Article 370 of Indian Constitution, which involves the unilateral annulment of the semi-autonomous states of Jammu and Kashmir, effectively stripping residents of basic political rights by imposing restrictions on freedom of movement, a complete shutdown mobile and internet services, deployment of troops and the arbitrary arrests of hundreds of activists. This complete disregard and theft of the democratic rights of Muslims living in the Kashmir and Jammu regions illustrates the complete assault that Modi’s government has made on democracy. The anti-democratic nationalistic populism of Modi continued on 31st August when the Indian government published a new citizens’ register, which purposely excluded 2 million predominantly Muslim residents, leaving them without citizenship in any country. Following this, tens of thousands of Indians began protesting this attack of democracy but were met by fierce police violence and eventually crushed. This illustrates that the Indian government and Prime Minister Modi seem to show little regard for the democratic foundations and future of their country. This ultimately conveys, as shown in both Erdoğan’s Turkey and Modi’s India, that populism represents a growing threat to the rights and freedoms of citizens and democracy in those countries.
Secondly, whilst democratic foundations are under assault in India and Turkey, it would seem that in China, any glimpse of democracy is buried deep behind years of totalitarian rule. China’s threat to democracy comes in 2 forms: firstly, its domestic repression and mass violation of towards the rights and freedoms of its Muslim inhabitants and secondly, and perhaps most frightening of all, its international threat through its insidious political influence on neighbouring countries, as part of its expansionist foreign policy.
In 2017, the Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing campaign of mass cultural annihilation in Xinjiang came to light. The campaign involved the violations of basic freedom of millions of Chinese-Muslim minorities. The campaign continued until 2019, with hundreds of thousands forced into prison or forced indoctrination camps . However, we know from leaked government documents and witness statements that the camps still continue to operate, and millions of citizens are being detained and indoctrinated against their religion. This clearly outlines a complete violation of democracy in China through inhuman and authoritarian domestic policies. However, China’s anti-democratic policies extend far more than domestic ones: through their expansionist foreign policy the Chinese communist party (CCP) is threatening democracy worldwide. Much like their autocratic counterparts in Russia, the CCP is creating their own ‘sphere of influence’ in which they control elections, media, and surveillance of many Eastern countries. As part of the annual ‘Nations in Transit’ report published by Freedom House , it presented how China’s expanding anti-democratic influence of countries was predominantly achieved through surveillance and technology. For example, the counties Armenia, Belarus, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and 13 more, all signed Huawei’s “Safe City Agreement”, which involves the instalment of surveillance cameras and facial scanners in all of the countries involved, which allows the Chinese Government to have an absurd amount of control and influence over surveillance of these countries, which will in turn lead to the diminishment of the current ‘democratic’ governments. Furthermore, China’s anti-democratic influence can be seen in more obvious ways, for example, the CCP’s sponsoring of the spread of disinformation to create confusion about the candidates ahead of the Taiwan Election in January 2020 . Or the dozens of Swedish news outlets that have been denounced by the Chinese Embassy for their reporting on China. It is clear that China has crippled her own democratic standings, through illegal imprisonment and indoctrination, but what is also clear is the threat that China and the CCP pose to democracy worldwide, through their omnipresent expansionist policy.
Thirdly and finally, we must consider the threat that the coronavirus poses to the democratic conditions in counties worldwide. COVID-19 has required people in all nations to practise social distancing and self-isolation in order to reduce the spreading of the virus. In addition, these actions require an enormous amount of altruism and trust, in a period where trust in government and institutions has been declining . Because of the global pandemic, a large number of governments have responded to the COVID crisis with emergency powers that curtail civil liberties - such as national lockdowns - instead of relying on regular powers and citizens’ cooperation and trust in each other and in the governments’ instructions. Furthermore, the recent Edelman Trust Barometer’s Trust and the Coronavirus report , suggested that the pandemic may have weakened people’s already tenuous trust in democratic institutions and processes. The report surveyed 10,000 people across 10 countries and found that 85% of respondents agreed that ‘we need to hear more from the scientists and less from politicians’; 58% were concerned about the politicisation of the crisis (‘Certain people are making the situation seem worse than it is for political gain’); and that scientists were trusted to tell the truth by 83% of those surveyed, compared to 51% who trusted their prime minister or president . Perhaps this handling of COVID-19 and lack of overall faith in politicians could signal a future decline in democracies and a rise in technocratic governance.
In conclusion, democracy is all too often taken for granted by people in western highly developed countries and the notion of authoritarianism seems alien and foreign, but this is not the case. As I have shown in this essay, many functioning modern democracies have been assaulted and forced to rot away by populist regimes, external influence, and corruption. I believe that the threat to democracy is larger than it has ever been in history, and a failure to recognise the threats and the influence of those who wish to take down democracy (whether it be for their own political gain or otherwise) could result in the expansion of authoritarian ideals through populist governments, and, even more chillingly, the eventual fall of liberal democracy worldwide.
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Jay Frederick Palombella (09/02/21)
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