Democracy: the last resort or the only option?

What not many people realise is that democracy has become nothing more than a propaganda structure let loose

Over the last couple of centuries, modern political thought has tried to come up with many innovative ideas to regulate power and decision making within the state, but there remains an overwhelming consensus, both among the common folk as well as the elite, that democracy, in whatever form it is allowed to operate, remains the most sustainable way to legitimise the source of political power and the manner in which it is exercised.

What not many people realise is that democracy, the way it is being practised in the world today, has become nothing more than a propaganda structure let loose. In every society political power is the complex thing to manage. It is a singularity that has many components. It cannot simply be deconstructed with a ballot and understood with an opinion poll.

Societies and states are always in flux. They change. And while democracy can be used as an instrument to measure the response, it should not be considered an end or a solution in itself. In its essence it is similar to a census where peoples can be counted against a given scale but nothing else can be done about it.

The fact that we don’t realise this and continue to think that democracy can be the solution to the sum total of all of our problems is perhaps the biggest reason for our continued troubles.

Put this in context with what happened this year and you will begin to see the sense behind this tirade against democracy. The vote in favour of Brexit in the UK, rejection of FARC peace deal in Colombia, and the recent election of Donald Trump as the 45^th president of the United States of America has surprised many on both sides of the traditional centre. While all of these were successes of the core democratic practices, some of the most ardent supporters of the universal franchise could not come to terms with the outcomes that they saw.

Many pundits were seen claiming after the historic Brexit vote that Prime Minister Cameron did not need to go for the referendum, and that he could have saved his political career as well as the future of the European Union by not taking the matter to the British public. Similarly, to his utter shock, the Colombian president, who is now compensated by the Nobel Prize committee with the Peace Award, found that his resolute efforts to bring his country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end were rejected by the majority of the voters when he put the deal in front of his countrymen for their approval. And since Trump’s success — despite his politically incorrect and unconventional campaign — is still fresh in the memory nothing needs to be said on that front.

But what does all of this mean? Does it mean that democracy is failing to keep pace with the rapidly changing world, or does it mean that the so-called left has lost so miserably that people have started to wind the clock backwards, and are more comfortable building walls than building bridges?

The harsh facts are, in fact, staring in our faces. A vast majority, everywhere in the world, feels that they have been left behind and that the system has not delivered on its promises. The globalisation of the last half a century has brought people together no doubt, but in doing so it has also highlighted the differences among peoples.

As it has always been, in its essence all struggles is struggle for survival. The majority is struggling hard to survive, and when they see that those at the top have taken advantage of them they are left with no other option but to use whatever they have to fight back. In the developed world, we saw with Trump and Brexit an attempt by those who had not been heard to cry foul and mock the system by voting for the option that was totally against the wishes of the establishment.

But America and the UK will find a way to crawl out of this tight spot. Their systems are still pretty strong. It is societies like us that need to worry.

The appetite for change has long been felt in our country as well. Many demagogues and politicians have tried to use the rhetoric of change to mobilise the support of the masses but they have failed to deliver. The clock is ticking. Since democratic traditions are still in their infancy, our biggest fear continues to remain the ‘change’ through other means — the ones that are deemed unconstitutional.

We are not realising fast enough that democracy can also be a form of revenge that people may take from the elite. Those in power are advised to start factoring in this as well in their power equation. The time is not that far when democracy will be a norm in our country. And if the system, and those who benefit from it, remain insistent of not reaching out to the masses and alleviate their suffering, folks who get to decide who gets to be in power may vote in scarier options hoping for change.

For what it is worth, democracy remains our last best hope. While we bet on its success we must not forget that for what it is worth, democracy will always be as good as who we are collectively as a nation.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26^th, 2016.

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