Are Modern Democracies Doomed to Fail?
Not since the 1960s has democracy appeared to be under more threat than today, with many of the world’s most important democracies facing a major crisis of confidence regarding their political futures. This is impacting countries with a long history of democracy such as the United States and France, as well as countries that have had democratic political systems for a much shorter period of time, such as Brazil and Spain. In nearly all democratic countries, faith in the democratic system of government has fallen significantly in recent years due to economic troubles, weak governments and rising security concerns. Moreover, nearly all forms of democratic political systems are struggling to deal with the changes underway in the 21st century, and no political system appears completely prepared to deal with these threats without major changes to their structures and their laws.
Modern-day democracies are facing a wide variety of threats that are jeopardizing their future and could one day lead to the collapse of democracy in many of the world’s leading countries. This may seem far-fetched due to the fact that democracy appeared to be the wave over the future in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the spread of democracy to many emerging markets around the world in recent decades. However, the 21st century has seen the rise of security threats such as terrorism and extremism that have used democratic norms such as freedom of speech to cause major disruptions in democracies around the world. Add to this the fact that global economic growth has slowed in recent years and living standards of the middle and lower classes of many democracies have fallen, and it is easy to see how many voters are losing their faith in democracy. In turn, the rising number of angry and dissatisfied voters has led to a loss of support for long-dominant political parties in many countries and to the rise of new parties to challenge them, particularly on the far-right and the far-left.
One democratic political system under threat in the 21st century is the presidential system. This system is used in many of the world’s most successful democracies, including the United States, the country that has done more to attempt to spread democracy in recent decades than any other (with varied results). However, the anger and dissatisfaction with the presidential candidates in upcoming elections in the United States, France and elsewhere shows that this system is facing a serious crisis. For one, many of the most qualified political leaders no longer seek to become president, due in part to the huge amount of resources and time that go into becoming (and remaining) the president of a large democracy. Meanwhile, populist candidates on the far-right and far-left are emerging as viable contenders to the presidency in many countries, many of whom are threatening to undermine the democratic principals of those countries. Finally, presidential systems sometimes appear ill-suited to deal with many of the economic and political threats of the 21st century, which is why democracy in the United States, France, Brazil and many other countries is so at risk today.
The other main democratic political system in the world today is the parliamentary system and, unfortunately, this system is faring little better when it comes to dealing with the political, security and economic challenges facing the world today. This is due in large part to the fact that difficult political and economic decisions are not being made in many parliamentary democracies as weak governments and fragmented parliaments are making it all but impossible to reach a consensus on difficult issues. Furthermore, the fact that the number of political parties qualifying for representation in the parliament has been rising in most parliamentary democracies means that too often, weak coalition governments are being formed, or, in many cases, no governments at all are being formed, leading to early elections having to take place one after another. This issue has already been seen in Spain, Belgium, Greece and a number of other countries in recent years and is likely to become a much more widespread problem in the years ahead. As such, parliamentary democracy is also facing a very uncertain future.
It is clear that without major changes, democracy is at risk in many areas of the world. These changes include constitutional changes that would strengthen both presidential and parliamentary democracies, even though such changes are likely to prove difficult given the opposition to making changes to the constitution in many countries, most notably the United States. Furthermore, much greater efforts will have to be made to deal with security and immigration issues, two areas where democracies are seen as failing their populations. As the global economy is likely to continue to struggle to generate significant growth in the coming years, governments will have to find more effective means of improving living standards and employment prospects for the middle and lower classes in their countries in order to offset the rising support for populist candidates and parties. If such changes are not made, there is no guarantee that democracy will survive in some countries and this would be a great shame as democratic structures and principals played a key role in some of the greatest advancements in the world over the past 250 years. As such, democracy remains something worth fighting for.