2024 has been a defining year in terms of being the biggest election year ever. Across the globe, nearly half the adult population will exercise their voting right and decide their political fortunes. Historically speaking, until World War II, there were only a handful of democracies and they were confined to the west. According to Samuel Huntington (Third Wave of Democratisation), the 1970s and 1980s changed all that and the numbers spiraled. Countries in Eastern Europe, East Asia, South America and South Africa became democracies. The creation of democracy was not a major problem, but its survival, certainly was (Przeworski, A., (2000) Democracy and Development).
Democracy as a concept had its origin in ancient Greece. ‘Demos’ means people and ‘Kratos’ means rule ~ thus ‘Rule of the people’. Equally correct would be to say that in modern times, what we see are liberal representative democracies, wherein governments are elected by and responsible to the people. If on the one hand, there is rule by the majority, on the other, there are civil liberties enjoyed by the people, which entitle them to criticize and challenge the government when required. Democracy does not start and end at the ballot box. It is also about pluralism, separation of powers and check and balances. The judiciary is an important component of democracy. It prevents transgression of power and gives the much needed space to civil society. Come fifteenth September each year, and the world celebrates the ‘International Day of Democracy’.
In fact, each country has certain elements that are specific to its history and culture, which may be identified as democratic assets, be it the tradition of participation and egalitarianism in Scandinavia, pluralist competition in Britain or for that matter, peaceful transfer of power in India. The diversity of democracy will never cease to surprise. In Frank Cunningham’s important work, ‘Democratic Theory and Socialism’, it was put forth that there are 311 definitions of the word democracy. Political institutions, practices and ideas not only vary throughout the world, but are complex as well. Differences could revolve around competing moral ideas about the kinds of freedom, the importance of equality, rights, and participation, or for that matter, institutions which are there in every democratic setup, but exhibit different levels of resilience.
There are instances when the institutions just cave in or become echo-chambers of over powerful leaders. Having said that, an important question that arises today is why is democracy on a shaky wicket? In some cases, one finds personalization of power has given way to deinstitutionalization. The mainstream news media has become a reflection of the powers that be. Along with this, there is the threat of online disinformation and deep fakes that are becoming rampant. Victor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, has openly declared his country to be an illiberal democracy. Why are democracies slowly slipping into autocracies?
In some parts of the world, democracies are struggling, for example in South Africa. Thirty years since the end of apartheid in 1994, the African National Congress has been the only leading party in government. The results of this year’s elections reflected the voter’s dissatisfaction with the way the system was running and the ANC failed to get a parliamentary majority, possibly making way for the first ever coalition government in South Africa. Talking of Mexican democracy, the country had its bloodiest election ever. But then it did make history by electing its woman President, Claudia Sheinbaum.
All is not well with American democracy. Four years back, Donald Trump refused to accept the 2020 American election results and called it the biggest fraud. The current American President Joe Biden, himself has admitted that the quality of democracy is under assault not only abroad, but at home too. Closer home, elections took place in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and India as well. In the recently concluded General elections for the 18th Lok Sabha, Narendra Modi became Prime Minister for a third consecutive term, the second person to do so after Jawahar Lal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister. India is the world’s largest democracy and Prime Minister Modi is credited not only with bringing stability and modernization but also striving towards India finding a pride of place on the global map.
Although, a lot of deliberation and debate went into the making of India’s constitutional democracy, it would not be incorrect to say that India’s tryst with democracy has been a mixed one; while it often seems close to reaching a fruition point yet it is not quite there. Sometimes, it is the institutions that fall short, at others, it is the political bankruptcy of the country’s elected leaders and the rivalry between political parties that have held institutions to ransom. Critics point out that concentration of powers in a few hands, the growing polarization, and the glaring gap between the rich and the poor have impacted India’s democracy. The richest 1 per cent own more than four times the wealth held by 953 million people who make up the bottom 70 per cent of the country’s population. An argument that continues to intrigue is that the ingredients that can sustain democracy can also destroy it if they are overabundant.
The fault sometimes lies in there being too much democracy. There is also the assumption that a strong state and a strong civil society, each with a clear notion of its own role and limitations, are mutually reinforcing. In fact, a robust civil society can go a long way in holding the government to account and providing the space for public deliberation and contestation as well. Minimizing electoral alienation and apathy is also a task that has to be pursued by civil society. In a democracy, alternative forms of governance represented by way of various struggles and social movements can provide sufficient space and opportunity for the articulation of identity, be it gender, religion, ethnic and minorities.
In the last couple of years, we have seen a global churning of democracy, due to immigration, changing laws of representation, multiculturalism, digitalization and proliferation of social media, sometimes accompanied with misinformation and a growing tendency towards aggressive nationalism and authoritarianism as well. All said and done, democracy is the dominant model of governance today, but the social scientist will still exercise caution as there is no perfect template for democracy. Who can forget that in the recently concluded general elections in India, it was the humble Indian voter who had the last laugh.
(The writer is Professor of Political Science, University of Delhi)