In addition to the horrific episodes that have occurred in America recently to tarnish our democracy, the democratic process appears to be in decline around the world. Under the aegis of Donald Trump, Americans have seen the murder of two black people shot by a white racist because they were black, explosive devices mailed to a number of Democratic officials by a crazed Trump supporter, and the killing of eleven Jews in a Pittsburgh synagogue while they were praying by a white supremacist shouting “all Jews must die.” None of these episodes resulted in phone calls by the president to the targets or families, or Trump halting his campaigning for a few days, carrying on as if nothing had happened. He did not disavow being a nationalist (white), claiming that George Soros might have paid the Central American migrants in the Mexican caravan to invade America, sent more troops to the border to halt this invasion of mostly women and children, did not reunite all the children who had been separated from their parents previously on Trump’s orders, and said that he was ending birthright citizenship which is guaranteed in the Constitution and beyond a president’s powers to end.
Besides the turmoil in America’s democracy, Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing white supremacist has just been elected as president of Brazil, saying that the police will have orders to kill criminals on sight and left-wing opponents will be killed or deported. Brazil was the world’s fourth largest democracy with a population estimated at over 208 million. Venezuela under Ortega has been a dictatorship for well over a decade, with Maduro following Chavez and the nation in chaos.
Sri Lanka is in the midst of a constitutional crisis with the president firing the prime minister who has a majority in parliament and bringing back a corrupt former prime minister who is close to China. The president had previously supported the prime minister he fired.
Germany, the bedrock of stability in Europe has just seen Angela Merkel, the prime minister give up her position as head of the Christian Democratic Party and will step down from her office with the next election. This is happening during the period that England is due to leave the European Union because of Brexit and the future of the confederation is uncertain. Also during this period, the new populist government of Italy is in conflict with the E.U. over spending limits, unwilling to adhere to previously agreed upon restrictions. In Germany, the AFD, a neo-Nazi party appears to be slowly gaining strength while the centrist parties are shedding members.
Eastern and Central Europe are also straying from the path of democracy. Hungary under Victor Orban has turned into what he calls an “illiberal democracy” but is really an autocratic state. Poland is also turning autocratic, ignoring all the aid they received from the E.U. when Poland was democratic.
India, the largest democracy in the world, is under the control of a right-wing Hindu party led by Prime Minister Modi who is becoming increasingly autocratic. A multi-ethnic country, India is now dominated by Hindu ideology, with vigilante killings of those who disregard sacred Hindu theologic ideas such as killing cows or eating beef.
Pakistan, a supposed democracy and the arch-enemy of India, is really controlled by the military that allows Muslim extremists to flout secular laws. The Talaban is also allowed free rein to cross into Afghanistan and fight the government and American forces, before returning to sanctuary in Pakistan.
The Philippines has turned into a dictatorship under President Dutarte who has exhorted law enforcement to kill all drug dealers and drug users extra-judicially. Dutarte’s enemies are also being killed or winding up in prison. He claims to have killed a number of drug users himself.
Turkey, once the hope for democracy in the Middle East, has become an autocratic state under the aegis of President Erdogan who rules with an iron hand. A populist and Islamist, his main support is from the rural uneducated population who voted him into office.
In the Middle East and North Africa, Tunisia is the only state that could generously be called a democracy. And most of Africa is under autocratic rule.
When the Soviet Union collapsed and Fukuyama declared the end of history, most political scientists believed that liberal democracy was going to be the default governing system for the world. Instead, democracy is now in decline virtually everywhere. And leadership from America to reverse the situation is completely absent.
Resurrecting Democracy
www.robertlevinebooks.com
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020