Democracy and economic insecurity

Politics always revolve around the economy. Over the last decade, many democratic countries have retreated into xenophobic populism, which has threatened the health of democratic institutions. The setbacks to democracies and shifts in authoritarianism can be discerned by the extent to which people in a democratic setup feel that their existence is secured economically and socially. In the pre-industrial era, when the availability of food increased, the human population rose; and when food scarcity increased, the population decreased. In both circumstances of ups and downs, people lived just above the starvation level. Historically, during times of extreme scarcity of food, xenophobia was a strategy when a strongman character spilled blood over the other tribe’s territory to capture food for his tribe. Under these circumstances of economic insecurity, people tend to favour authoritarian leaders to secure their existence. The trajectory of contemporary politics can also be traced back to previous times, and modern times have led to the support of xenophobic nationalism or sadomasochistic authoritarian parties to secure their existence.

Economic insecurity is the major reason for the transition from a democracy into authoritarianism. Inequality is incompatible with democratisation. The rise in inequality in the last three decades is parallel to an anti-democratisation surge in the global world. In the 20th century, some people were rising faster than others, but everyone was going in the significantly right direction. Today, everyone is not moving in the right direction because some people are everywhere and the majority is nowhere. Less educated people in many countries have precarious job security, and they are marginalised from the equal benefits of growth, which has overwhelmingly oriented their voting choices on emotional and appealing rhetoric. In his book, A Brief History of Equality, Thomas Piketty argued that the rising inequality and class stagnation are not due to capitalism but because of the society’s stage of development. In the 20th century, the transition from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy increased the bargaining power of the workers, but in the 21st century, the sudden shift in the service economy undermined the bargaining power of the workers because the service economy introduced automation and Artificial Intelligence, which reduced the powers of the labour, and eventually the less educated class was marginalised into the gallows of inequality. This economic insecurity and precarious social wellbeing of the working class in the machine age have set voter preferences over the anti-democratic rhetoric.

The machine age has decreased democratic incentives because the rise of automation threatens to create an economy in which all gain at the very top. Unlike the transition from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy, the next shift into the knowledge economy will not create large numbers of well-paid jobs and sideline human labour, which will ultimately cause an insecure economic growth of the individuals, leading towards democratic emasculation. Democracy is based on equal growth and equal participation by individuals, but the machine-age enigma of irrelevancy for many people will hurt democratic sustainability. For instance, Artificial Intelligence has already made large strides to displace human labour in the medical sector, the interpretation of legal documents, and the writing of computer programmes. Between 2000 and 2010, around 85% of US manufacturing jobs were removed by technological advances. The phenomenon of labour-force dropout has caused major setbacks to the adult franchise and democratic recession.

Without economic security, democracy cannot grow in a straight line. Governments should prioritise improving the quality of life for all rather than focus on maximising the profits of global corporates. The most progressive income tax, equality in incomes, and finding effective ways to create meaningful jobs that require human services in the health, education and development sectors can save democracy from backsliding.

Democracy can resume its march if rich countries address the growing economic insecurities and manage the new shift in the automated economy. Democracy and economic wellbeing move in parallel directions. Without economic viability for everyone, no democracy can be destined for growth. Exploring effective ways to maximise economic efficiency and quality of life for all will be the central challenge for democratic sustainability in the coming times.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2022.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.