The myth of democracy

Democracy's decline: elitism, manipulated elections, and growing populism challenge its legitimacy worldwide

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The idea of governments representing the aspirations of the people in true democratic fashion has always been more of an ideal than a reality. The Greeks who came up with this model of governance gave voice to a third of their populace at best, comprised of 'free' males. Much later, the founding fathers of America who upheld the virtues of freedom and liberty were themselves slave holders. Democracy in its current form remains plagued by a plethora of problems, even if it seems a better option than being ruled by civil or military strongmen, by theocracies, or monarchical rulers.

Democracies around the world today are very susceptible to cooption. Despite the rhetoric of serving common people, both sides of the political divide in the US remains in the grip of its wealthy elites, who use lobby groups to exercise significant power over domestic and foreign policies. In India, which is the largest democracy in the world, the democratic process has mutated into the tyranny of the majority. In many other countries which hold regular elections, the will of average voters is similarly suppressed or manipulated to protect vested interests of the few.

The so-called 'end of history', and the uncontested dominance of liberal democracies, predicted by Fukuyama at the time of the Soviet collapse has not arrived. Instead, we have seen the resurgence of imperialist ambitions in Russia, the growing dominance of Communist Chinese, and the increasing spike of populism in supposedly robust democracies the world over.

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance which has been measuring democratic performance in 158 countries since 1975 recently noted a decline in crucial democratic indicators in nearly half (47%) of these nations over the past five years. This democratic erosion has evidently taken place in terms of representation, protection of basic rights, the rule of law, and with reference to citizen participation in the democratic process. There is growing skepticism about the process of elections itself, the very mechanism based on which democracies legitimise themselves. Between mid-2020 and mid-2024, one in five elections held globally were challenged. It is not only countries with shaky democratic credentials, such as Pakistan, where contentions around elections are prevalent. Even in the US, less than half of American voters thought that the 2020 election was 'free and fair', and the country remains deeply polarised on the heels of another Trump presidency.

In Pakistan, a hybridity model persists, and the situation in neighbouring countries is not very encouraging either. Prime Minster Narendra Modi has been constrained to some degree due to his increased reliance on regional political parties, yet his exclusionary Hindutva ideology still won him a third consecutive term in office. The Taliban have reemerged to exercise a vicelike grip over Afghan citizens. The situation in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka is also perturbing. In Bangladesh, widespread protests managed to get rid of Sheikh Hasina's authoritarian rule but now the caretaker set-up, headed by Dr Muhammad Yunus, of Grameen Bank fame, has decided to ban the Awami League altogether, which will disenfranchise a significant proportion of the country's voters. Conversely, public agitation in Sri Lanka also ousted the nepotistic and authoritarian Rajapaksa regime, but new elections have seen the emergence of a Sinhalese leftist, which seems to have little appetite for allowing more space to the minorities, especially the Tamils. Thus, the state of democracy in South Asia is floundering despite a fresh bout of elections.

Unless democracy can truly represent the aspirations of the masses, and offer protection to the marginalised, the democratic process will continue being hijacked by opportunistic leaders to serve the elites, and more people will become frustrated by the democratic process itself.