Global Democratic Decay

Ritika Das

The writer can be contacted at ritikadas108@gmail.com

Abraham Lincoln famously quoted, "Democracy is of the people, by the people and for the people." Today, it is the most popularly practised and exercised government system across the globe where all countries try to fit in their style of governance in the vast universe of democracy.

But, a report by V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute found that the global share of democracies declined from 54 per cent in 2009 to 49 per cent in 2019. According to a report by Freedom House, a Washington DC-based non-profit organization, countries that witnessed a decline in their democracies had outnumbered the improvements in 2021. It is stated that in the last 16 years, the number of people living in countries that are considered to be free has declined by 25.7 per cent. A recent series of events around the world, especially within the Asian countries, sadly further highlights the harsh reality that democracy is indeed decaying and the citizens have become just mere mute audiences to it.

The most prominent example is the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 which resulted in the democratically elected President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country. Despite the common people protesting against the forceful takeover, the military regime unleashed its barbarism in full swing and now the common people, especially the womenfolk in the country, hardly enjoy any rights and freedom under the Taliban military rule.

Next is the issue of Myanmar, which has been under military rule for the past one year since the democratically elected members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) along with popular leader Aung San Suu Kyi were charged with using unfair means during election campaigns. The military coup under Tatmadaw (Myanmar's military) pushed the country into a grave humanitarian crisis where there is not only economic damage but also a lot of people have lost their lives. Ironically, Suu Kyi had earlier spent nearly 15 years in detention due to her struggle to bring back democracy in the then military-ruled Myanmar but unfortunately, now she too has become a victim of it.

Closer neighbour Pakistan has an infamous history of constantly undermining the spirit of democracy by throwing away popularly elected leaders through military force. This time too, Pakistan had faced a political crisis where the army-supported Prime Minister Imran Khan had to succumb to a non-confidence motion by the opposition party, due to which he had to lose his Prime Ministership to Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif. It is allegedly stated that Imran Khan's over-assertiveness over the military that helped him in his office has resulted in his downfall because the military seeks leaders who would abide by their commands.

One of the biggest powers in the Asian region, China considers itself a 'people's democratic dictatorship'. They have their central power in the hands of one party, that is the 'Chinese Communist Party' (CCP), and they are the ones who choose which other political parties would run. They reject the multi-party system citing that it won't work under the country's unique historical and social cultures.

Another recent instance is Sri Lanka which is currently facing its worst economic crisis in decades. The country is facing a huge foreign exchange crunch and inflation of many basic essential commodities which is making life difficult for the poor. The President, as a consequence, had to declare a state of emergency and imposed a curfew which further angered the common people.

It is also important to mention that the Sri Lankans are also dissatisfied with the fact that their President, Gotabaya Rajapaksha appointed his brother, Mahindra Rajapaksha as Prime Minister and also amended the Constitution to strengthen his own powers. Further, continuing his goal of dynastical politics, he appointed more members of his family in the finance, agriculture and sports portfolios. The common citizens are now demanding the removal of every Rajapaksha from the electoral system of Sri Lanka.

Other instances include political conflicts in countries like Libya, Yemen, Ethiopia along with a crackdown on political dissidents by the Prime Minister of Cambodia and closing down of the last independent newspaper there.

Even though India has been exercising the democratic style of governance since its first general election in 1952, the ongoing curtails of civil liberties that are alleged by various human rights volunteers during the BJP rule has slipped down the country's democracy rank. According to a Sweden-based institute, India is no longer an 'electoral democracy' but rather an 'electoral autocracy'. The blame has been put on the strong Hindutva policy that the ruling party continues to promote which has made it difficult for minorities to exert their presence. India's level of liberal democracy has also registered a sharp fall at 0.34 per cent by the end of 2020 as compared to 0.57 per cent in 2013.

But what can be the reasons as to why democracy is slowly becoming hard to implement and harder to maintain? One possible reason that all the international media and intellectuals are debating about is the significance of the United Nations. The charter of the UN begins with the line 'We the People' which itself reflects the fundamental principles of democracy that the UN sought to uphold. But its lack of firm decisions and timely action against the recent political crisis in Afghanistan and Myanmar has made the world doubt the assertiveness of the UN in global matters.

A second factor can be the disregard for citizens' choices in the decision making. The autocratic or the non-democratic regimes are often installed against the popular wishes of the country's citizens and their displeasures are often curbed through illegal and cruel actions.

In the present world, all the governing styles regard themselves as a democracy but there are only a few countries which actually practice it religiously. While some have still not extended their voting rights to all the citizens, some have only one-party system which gives no diverse choice to common people. Some countries have over-influencing leaders who try to establish one-man rule by being totally intolerant of criticism and dissent.

The idea of democracy is easier to enjoy than enforce. A full commitment to the maintenance of democracy even in the direst circumstances is the only way through which we can uphold the concept of people's (demos) rule (kratos).