Democracy in crisis?

The term ‘democracy,’ stemming from the Greek word dēmokratia, refers to a system of governance whereby citizens of a nation are given the power to rule either directly, or indirectly, through the appointment of government officials whom they elect. [1] Democracy is often associated with ideas and policies that aim to promote diversity, freedom, and implement justice for all – including societal minorities, who are often deprived of many freedoms and privileges. In our current era however, democracy has been in decline worldwide due to recent social and political events in various countries that have threatened its establishment. This essay will explore the definition of democracy and how to measure it, before delving into a discussion about whether the governmental system is in crisis, with the assistance of a few countries acting as examples of democracies that will help examine the situation as to whether democracy is in crisis.

Despite the earlier definition of democracy that was given in the introduction, there are additions to the concept of democracy that can not be covered in a singular, generic definition. The concept of democracy also encompasses measures which adds to its complexity, thus making it difficult to define in simple terms. Some of these measures used include the Vanhanen index of democracy, named after Finnish politician Tatu Vanhanen, it measures democracy on the basis of what percentage of the population participates in voting during national elections. [Cooley and Snyder, 2015] Another form of measuring democracy is through the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) since democracies are considered as the least corrupt governmental form, use of the CPI helps determine how democratic a country is depending on where they fall on the index scale. [Drapalova et al., 2019] Additionally, another form of measuring democracy is through the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) which ranks democracy in a country on the basis of categories regarding politics and freedoms, and is a well-recognized measure that will be spoken about in further detail.

A 2021 study using the Economist Intelligence Unit’s measure of democracy found that close to 46% of world’s population lives in a democracy. [Economist Intelligence Unit, n.d.] From this percentage, the world population is divided into two ‘layers’ of democracy, whereby 39% of the world’s population lives in a ‘flawed’ democracy, whereas a mere 6% lives in a ‘full’ democracy, according to the study. A ‘flawed’ democracy indicates a democracy with free and fair elections but lacks fundamental civil liberties. On the other hand, a “full” democracy refers to a democracy whereby civil liberties are respected and have governments that operate in a functional manner, and a political culture that aligns with democratic values and principles. [Anon., n.d.]

The EIU measures democracy in a country according to certain factors. These factors include political processes and pluralism, civil liberties, political culture, political participation, and the functioning of the government. A country is then given an average score, spanning across the five factors, on a scale from one to ten – with one being the least democratic, to 10 being the most. The study found that Scandinavian countries which includes Norway (being first out of all countries investigated in the study), as well as Iceland and Sweden were ranked among the top five most democratic countries, whereas the bottom five least democratic countries were central African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Central African Republic – but also war-stricken and heavily state censored countries including Afghanistan and North Korea. In recent years, there has been an overall decline in the number of ‘full’ democracies into ‘flawed’ democracies. The 2021 EIU report confirmed that there is a potential crisis with democracy as it found that several countries such as Chile and Spain saw a decline from ‘full’ to ‘flawed,’ and several other countries declined even further than that, as they dropped from ‘flawed’ democracies into ‘hybrid regimes’ – which describes governments that incorporate democratic characteristics with those that are commonly found in authoritarian governments (hence the term ‘hybrid’). [obo., n.d.] However, the report also provided statistics that contradicts the notion concerning whether democracy is in crisis, as it found that there was a development in democracy within certain countries such as Indonesia as well as Moldova, although these countries were few.

One example that subscribes to the notion that democracy is indeed in crisis, is the presence of economic instability and financial crisis. In her report, Arat (1988) refers to a “evolutionary thesis” which implies that there is a trend between lower stages of economic development correlating with low levels of democracy, whereas higher stages of economic development are associated with higher levels of democracy [Arat, 1988]. This is a contemporary trend that can be observed globally when considering that within developing countries in the southernmost part of the world, which face challenges such as corruption, government debt, and other factors causing economic instability, hence explaining why the levels of democracy tend to be quite low in such regions of the world. In addition, there is also the presence of war, and civil conflict which also affects these countries’ economies, because it affects businesses’ supply chains, and therefore on a wider scale, the economy. Developed countries on the other hand, which are thriving economically due to the presence of the businesses and corporations that are able to do well in these economically stable environments, and in turn, contribute to the prosperity of the economy, shows the presence of stable democracies.

Due to the recent onset of the pandemic, and the lockdown that followed, both developed and developing countries experienced negative impacts to their economies, as businesses were forced to shut down. The 2021 EIU report showed that many countries saw a decline in democracy according to the measure during the period of lockdown. This was in part due to the fact that some governments saw the pandemic as an opportunity to exercise autocratic control over the population by squandering “democratic spaces.” Such an example was the how the Sri Lankan government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa threatened to arrest anyone who spoke out, or acted against the official COVID-19 policy. [Repucci and Slipowitz, 2020] However, this was not the case all round, as the pandemic also brought a positive outcome in favour of democracy. The onset of the pandemic in America allowed American citizens to come together and, in this unity, collaborate in order to solve problems, as well as restore public trust, which is vital for a “functioning government,” – which as previously mentioned is a factor that is considered in the Economist’s Intelligence Unit’s measure in order for a country to be labelled a democracy. [Kurlantzick, 2020] Thus, even despite the presence of economic failure, spurred by the pandemic, it didn’t cause all democracies to falter – but rather, in exceptional cases, like that of America, allowed for a boost.

Another example that examines whether democracy is in crisis, regards the political sector, specifically elected politicians who abuse their authority – a problem which has existed since the time of Plato. Plato, a philosopher from the ‘birthplace’ of democracy, argued that the problem with democracy is the fact that it permits an environment where everybody has the right to rule, and thus, anyone – especially those who are driven by their own personal desires and motivations are given the right to exercise them once they gain power. [Utm.edu, 2021] In his article, Mitchell (2017) covers threats to democracy and how extreme nationalism can have negative consequences on democracy, but also adds that other factors include the failure of holding those with power accountable for their actions, as he claims that it “lacks” the ability to hold politicians accountable. He goes on further to claim that punishments towards these politicians are feeble, stating that only punishment that awaits modern politicians is losing “their seat in the next election.” [Mitchell, 2017] One prominent example of an abuse of power by those with authority, is the United States, under the leadership of Donald Trump. Trump, who was known throughout his presidential campaign and presidency, for enforcing nationalist messages through slogans and speeches, was responsible for causing the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and most notably, playing a highly influential role in causing the January 6 insurrection of 2021 – ultimately causing the US democracy to slightly fall on the index of democracy as a result. Hence showing how elected leaders can destabilize democracy placing it in crisis.

In conclusion, based on the examples shown above, there is evidence that democracy has been weakened, although to claim that it is “in crisis” does appear to be a slight overstatement. A more appropriate term to use would be that democracy has been “challenged” due to factors within the economic and political sectors – which includes recent events, such as the pandemic, which affected many economies worldwide, or the insurrection in America. Additionally, it is good to note that democracies have been challenged in many countries recently – but not all. Thus, the claim that “democracy is in crisis” does not fully reflect the true state of democracy across every single country that is a democracy. Lastly, it is useful to note that democracies can be “in crisis,” but only temporarily, as the status can change by the election of new leaders, or the coming out of recessions, overall allowing for a country to have a much more stable environment where democracy can thrive.

References:

Anon, (n.d.). Full Democracy - ECPS. [online] Available at: https://www.populismstudies.org/Vocabulary/full-democracy/.

Arat, Zehra F (1988). Democracy and Economic Development: Modernization Theory Revisited. Comparative Politics, 21(1), pp.21–36. doi:https://doi.org/10.2307/422069.

Cooley, A. and Snyder, J. (2015). Ranking the World: Grading States as a Tool of Global Governance. [online] Google Books. Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/boo...

‌Drapalova, E., Mungiu-Pippidi, A., Palifka, B.J. and Vrushi, J. (2019). Corruption and the crisis of democracy: The link between corruption and the weakening of democratic institutions. [online] JSTOR. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/r...

Economist Intelligence Unit. (n.d.). Democracy Index 2021: the China challenge. [online] Available at: https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/democracy-index-2021/?utm_source=eiu-website&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=democracy-index-2021.

Kurlantzick, J. (2021). THE WAY FORWARD. [online] JSTOR. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/r...

Mitchell, T.N. (2017). Democracy in Crisis. Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, [online] 106(423), pp.274–284. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/9...

obo. (n.d.). Hybrid Regimes. [online] Available at: https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199756223/obo-9780199756223-0167.xml.

Repucci, S. and Slipowitz, A. (2020). Democracy under Lockdown. [online] Freedom House. Available at: https://freedomhouse.org/report/special-report/2020/democracy-under-lockdown.

Utm.edu. (2021). Plato: Political Philosophy | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [online] Available at: https://iep.utm.edu/platopol/#H1.

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