- juliarob25
- Sep 27, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Nov 14, 2024
Since the late 20th Century democracy has spread across the world, becoming the most common form of political system. Yet currently there seems to be a gradual loss of democratic qualities in some countries' political systems. Whilst the weakening can be almost difficult to perceive in some countries, in others the effects of “hybridisation” leads to an ostensible decline in democratic features and values. This can be due to a number of factors such as the failure of countries to abide by true democratic values and global interconnectedness. However, one of the most important factors contributing to such decline is the rise of other political regimes, such as populism and autocracy, in the largest and most influential countries in the world. The majority of these factors are intertwined but I will attempt to explain each one individually.
Firstly, democracy has been weakening in some countries due to the failure of their governments to deliver democratic qualities. A fundamental part of democracies is the continual election cycle. This means that multiple politicians compete to win over who will govern, meaning that frequent propositions are made and polices are quickly passed in parliament in order to please the electorate. This is arguably a good process as long as the democratically elected government fulfils their pre-election promises. Often policies proposed in campaigns are rarely implemented, leaving the people feeling deceived and possibly that they are not part of the representative democracy. Such disillusionment results in relatively low election turnout which in turn causes even less representative government. Long term, ingrained economic challenges are neglected such as poor education standards and deteriorating infrastructure, leading to lower economic growth and stagnation. Democracy declines further as the qualities are slowly diminishing and governments are not representing the will of the people. This in turn gives space to other more radical and less democratic forms of political systems to gradually take over.
Global interconnectedness and influence is arguably one of the most significant causes. The creation of large multinational institutions such as the UN and the IMF has led to countries aiding one another but also spreading Western values to developing countries. It can be argued that these organisations are the very ones that helped spread democracy and ensure it has been maintained. However,
it must be mentioned that the way in which the these organisations impose ideals is questionable as countries are given little say on how and whether they want this to be implemented. Yet the extent that the organisation NATO spreads democracy at all can be questioned. Since the organisation first appeared in 1949 it had the sole aim of defending its members against the communist Soviet Union and its allies. This alienation can be argued to have triggered the opposing block to want more power and territory making them spread their political views . Whilst this can be clearly seen during the years of the Cold War when NATO took an aggressive stance against the Soviet bloc, it is no longer the case in the context of the Russian aggression in Ukraine. The exclusion of large authoritarian-like regimes can be perceived as having the opposite effect of suppressing them and constructive dialogue (or at least an effort to start one) should always be an option. Equally, NATO’s support of Ukraine’s legitimate right to self-defence should not be confused with NATO’s aggression against Russia, as portrayed by Putin’s regime.
Furthermore, globalisation has led to various cultures, ideas and traditional values mixing. This has come in the form of social media and movement of inhabitants between countries. This has resulted in a spread of certain political ideals from different cultures and people with different views influencing others. Globalisation has also contributed to an increase in immigration which created some tensions between natives and the immigrants. In recent times such tension has even erupted into open hostility towards immigration which has been supported and misused by some leaders such as Donald Trump or Nigel Farage. They have followed the most popular views within their respective countries to attempt to win further votes, explaining the rise of populism. It can be argued that this is the main cause of the decline in democracy as populism is spreading, especially to the most prominent countries in the world which have a great influence over others, possibly leading to there being more populist governments in the future.
The emergence of alternative political systems has contributed to the decline in democracy. The reason for certain systems becoming more popular than others has been highlighted in the previous paragraph, yet the effects are also imperative to understand. Putting some military dictatorships aside, democracy as such has not been fully replaced by populism and authoritarianism, in most countries with declining democratic values. Such regimes still have some democratic elements present making them hybrid. Taking Russia as an example, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US attempted to impose Western democratic ideals on the succeeding countries, some of which were in fact implemented. However, not all of those implanted ideals and institutions lasted more than a few years. The governments began to dismantle some of these aspects of democracy to leave only a few remaining ones such as regular elections. Such weakened democratic institutions serve only as masks for the authoritarian regime in which the Russian president Putin governs, as elections are rigged and opposition party leaders are suppressed. Yet there are less extreme versions where democracy has not been fully broken down yet such as in Hungary where Viktor Orban leads a fully hybrid regime with characteristics of both a democracy and authoritarian regime. If his first term is to be repeated, Donald Trump is likely to run a populist country if he comes to power, meaning that one of the most powerful countries and traditional beacons of democratic values in the world may no longer be a purely democratic country.
This decline is gradually occurring, creating a domino effect on many other countries, especially due to world powers Russia and the US drifting away from democracy, as they have a huge influence over the rest of the world. It can be argued that the lack of support and large organisations which they are part of has led to developing countries being overtaken by other systems such as military dictatorships. Overall, the decline is likely to be due to the rise of political states other than democracy, which has occurred as a result of new ideas spreading across the world because of global interconnectedness. However, I believe that future generations should not let democracy disappear without making any effort to prevent this. Past generations have fought over the right to live in a free democratic world so this should be maintained by those who are currently benefiting from it!
References:
Great writing - I agree :)