Deconstructing democracy: Ramesh Shrestha

One cannot ask for more

Democracy as a form of governance, associated with ancient Greek civilisation is assumed to be the oldest form of civil administration based upon which emerged the western civilisation that took stronghold in Europe during the past centuries. While democracy was being refined in Europe, countries in other continents had their own form of governance based on their local socio-cultural traditions, often hierarchical, nevertheless served the purpose. It continued to flourish following decolonisation together with rudiments of colonial administration. Then came a sudden jolt starting in the early 1990s when more than 90 countries were pushed to adopt a western styled democratic system of governance which remained unmoved. There were few exceptions such as monolithic absolute monarchies and few countries with communism with centralised planning. Adoption of this new democratic system of governance began to be linked with bilateral and international assistance and loans.

In principle the essence of democratic governance is the best form of civil administration which guarantees fundamental freedom through free speech, human rights, free and fair election with a pluralistic system of governance with clear division of responsibilities with checks and balances between the executive, legislative and judiciary branches of governance. One cannot ask for more. But in many recent surveys people in many countries have expressed disillusions in their 'democratic' governments. There were reports of people falling into poverty traps, growing income inequality, growth in political corruption and a mismanaged economy with the rich getting richer and poor getting poorer. Nevertheless, democracy is still considered as the best form of governance compared to its rivals.

A question never asked

A question never asked was, were all these 90+ countries ready for such a sudden change in their governance system without any preparation? It took centuries for European countries to have a fully flourished democratic system including revolution in some countries. Such a giant transition requires well trained human resources and a conducive administrative structure which can deliver public services enshrined in a democratic system. It may be safe to say that none of these newly decolonised countries have such infrastructures in place.

In recent decades all components of democracy such as free & fair election, free speech and rule of law supposedly guaranteed by independent executive, legislative and judiciary branches of governance appear to have been seriously disfigured. Nevertheless, leaders of all countries claim to be democratic of some kind – parliamentary democracy, liberal democracy, illiberal democracy, presidential democracy, social democracy, etc. Whichever system of democracy is in place, the basic tenet of the system remains the same - free speech, human rights, free and fair election, etc. As people began to see the rise of dictatorial democrats through election, rising inequality, political corruption with rule of law favouring the privileged class, the citizens find it difficult to defend democracy.

People's expectation and reality

In democracy, the government is expected to protect freedom, equality and economic growth through equal opportunity, the benefits of which are widely shared among the population through improved equitable public services. The guarantors of such services are the representatives of the people elected through a free and fair election who represent the people in their constituencies in various levels of governance. Who and how those representatives get elected have become the debate in many countries with election funding becoming a major sore of disharmony in the electoral processes.

Perhaps as a matter of coincidence deregulation of the economy and spread of privatisation also took hold in parallel with the spread of democratic system of governance since the 1990s. It is not unwise to conclude that the principle of democracy is not compatible with the idea of deregulation and privatisation, the theme of which is simply profit, not distribution. Many academics have tried to justify a free market economy with deregulation and spread of privatisation within the confines of democratic governance. But in reality, it is not performing like the academics envisioned. The deregulation and privatisation gave ideal opportunities to the rich and the powerful. The rich then started to manipulate the election processes with 'creative' ideas such as taking control of media so that all narratives are controlled according to their views which impacts nomination of candidates. In the end people elect their representatives who are nominated by the elites not by the general public. The loyalty of the elected official thus tilts towards the rich and powerful rather than the general public.

The freedom of speech has also become another casualty despite being under the umbrella of democracy, as speaking truth has its own risks. At the same time in total contrast, history is being rewritten by select politicians with imaginary claims in the name of free speech. This is in violation of the idea of free speech devoid of truth. Similarly, the borderline between the judiciary, executive and legislative branches of governance is becoming blurred while making decisions that affect the general public, locally and sometimes internationally depending on the agenda. It seems like democracy exists only in remote communities unreached by the modern economy and untouched by global geopolitics.

Neither idealistic nor realistic

For the majority of the people especially in the mid- and low-income countries the current system of governance is not delivering what is expected in a democratic governance. Even in rich and powerful countries the wealth disparity and skewed opportunities are visible examples which demonstrates that the system is not serving a good portion of the population. What is actually happening is that countries are being governed by democratic dictators elected by the populace through a manipulated electoral process but appearing to be free and fair. In many countries the rich and the powerful is giving birth to hard core populist right wing leaders who are deconstructing the idea of democracy. In the end it is bound to create chaos and will kill the idea of universal justice. It is just a matter of time.

Signs of deconstruction

Countries around the world look up to the West as a role model for inspiration and assistance but the double standard practiced by the West and many of its actions globally has not been good examples including its role in ignoring the institutions such as the ICC and ICJ to protect some and bullying others. The hostilities towards the United Nations are a futile exercise. The UN can function only as much as it is allowed to by its member states. The divisive roles of many western governments have diminished the meaning of democracy, noted by the rest of the world.

Democracy in the 21st century has become a defenceless system manipulated by the market economy monopolised by the opportunists, populists and oligarchs devoid of any emotions. According to Freedom House, there has been a sharp decline in free & fair election, freedom of press, the rule of law, political rights and civil liberties consecutively in 113 countries since 2006. Yet, all these countries claim to be democratic. Few countries are descending towards authoritarian rule as a defence against external interference pushing democracy with diverse motives. The young generation, say born since 1990 have no knowledge whatsoever of the struggle against authoritarian governments of the past as teaching history and interest on history among the young is bare minimum. Growing up along with capitalism, limitless technology and media devoid of realism, the young generation - the future torch bearers may simply become techno-feudalist. How long can capitalist democracy last? How will democracy survive in the coming decades? People need to stop criticizing democracy as a system, instead people need to target those who are disfiguring democracy for their own benefit.



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