Democracy and its enemies

An authoritarian drift is sweeping through the democratic world, in a kind of march that can be triumphant. As with any threat, the question arises of where dangers may materialize. He who is prepared cushions the blows better. The answer is not simple, because involution is not developing in the same way in all places. But, beyond the nuances or particularities, we can see a common feature: the pillars of representative democracy may be cracking. They begin to be questioned, sometimes frontally.

About twenty years ago, authoritarian proclamations were considered rather anecdotal in democracies. These were harmless exoticisms, located on the margins of the political system. But those rarities may now become the majority. And fears that had been forgotten resurface. In the most pessimistic visions, one remembers black and white documentaries full of disturbing images, with arms raised martially, furious totalitarian harangues, suffering of victims of all kinds. The more balanced perspectives rather warn us of possible transformations of the democratic system that could make it unrecognizable, like a boxer with a swollen face after having been shaken mercilessly.

After the intense upheavals of the 20th century, it seemed that representative democracy had established itself in much of the world as a consolidated, undisputed form of government with enviable health. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Francis Fukuyama published an influential essay in which he argued that the ideological evolution of humanity had been put to an end and affirmed that Western democracy was going to be universalized as the definitive form of human government. The free world had triumphed. Although Fukuyama’s theses on the “end of history” sparked lively debate, the truth is that they enjoyed considerable acceptance in the academic field. The democratic system was emerging as an irreversible conquest. This great victory of civilization was going to lead to many other achievements in the field of human rights.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, democracy became the dominant political system in the world. In the words of Yascha Mounk, the democratic system “seemed immovable in North America and Western Europe, and was taking root in leaps and bounds in previously autocratic countries in Eastern Europe and South America, in addition to making very good progress.” pace in nations spread throughout Asia and Africa.”

In its report on 2023, Freedom House points out that very significant setbacks have been observed at the international level in democratic matters, which add to the progressive and accelerated deterioration of the last two decades.

However, after the turn of the century, everything began to get complicated, because happiness quickly comes with setbacks. In recent years, quite serious symptoms of democratic retreat have emerged. In its report on 2023, Freedom House points out that very significant setbacks have been observed at the international level in democratic matters, which add to the progressive and accelerated deterioration of the last two decades. This entity highlights that in 2023 political rights and civil liberties decreased in 52 countries. This situation contrasts with what happened from 1974 to the beginning of the 21st century, since then there was a constant progression of democracy in the world, according to annual evaluations by Freedom House.

The renewed push for autocracy is disturbing. These steps backwards in recent years imply a true democratic recession, with an increase in dictatorships and a sudden stop in the incorporation of new democracies. And, furthermore, with authoritarian regressions in many democracies or with a reduction in democratic quality in the most advanced societies. In countries that have suffered a regression and maintain democratic structures, phenomena such as the violation of the separation of powers, harassment of the media, attacks on the rights of minorities and blows to the electoral system to ensure re-elections are observed.

The disturbing shocks of the last decade force deep reflections. The emergence of Trumpism in the United States represents a phenomenon that has shocked international experts, due to its special symbolism, in the most powerful state on the planet, in a country that had no precedents for authoritarian governments. In a very different area, the possibilities of democratic opening in Russia have evaporated following the growing authoritarianism of the Putin regime.

Signs of deterioration have been happening all over the world. Jair Bolsonaro’s rise to power in Brazil was an eventful experience, full of despotic gestures, homophobic slurs and practices contrary to the values ​​of democratic institutions. Turkey had made meritorious progress towards becoming democratic societies, with expectations even of joining the European Union, but the successive mandates of Recep Tayyip Erdogan have turned it into an openly authoritarian state. In the United Kingdom, the most surprising thing about Brexit was that the popular decision was adopted mainly based on the xenophobic proclamations of the British extreme right, which prevailed over the line of the traditional parties.

Even in countries like Germany, where it was unthinkable that a broad extreme right would once again articulate itself, the rise of conservative national populism is evident.”

In Hungary and Poland, policies of retreat were undertaken, with vigorous attacks against the separation of powers, political pluralism and the rights of the people. At the present time, unknowns remain about the evolution of the democratic system in Italy or Argentina, starting from the new radical right governments of Giorgia Meloni and Javier Milei. Even in countries like Germany, where it was unthinkable that a broad extreme right would once again articulate itself, the rise of conservative national populism is evident. As a very telling fact, the largest political organization in the world is the Indian People’s Party, currently in power, with radical right positions that are contrary to the rights of minorities.

In all the countries of the European Union there has been a noticeable increase in support for the extreme right, which has achieved a prominent presence in almost all parliaments, which has allowed it to participate in many governments. The result of the European elections in June 2024 has once again confirmed the rise of ultra-conservative parties.

On the other hand, a little more than five years ago, international experts still maintained that the disastrous memory of Franco’s regime explained the relevant absence of the extreme right in Spain. The supervening reality has forced them to review their premises. In fact, right now the debate is very different: the pertinent question is whether similar processes of democratic involution can develop in Spain. Questions even arise about whether democracy may be threatened in our country.

From the outset, the possibility of an old-fashioned coup d’état should be ruled out. Our armed forces have been democratized and there are no elements of risk coming from the military sphere. But we should not ignore movements of social, economic and political reconfiguration such as those that have recently occurred elsewhere. In an increasingly interconnected world, there are common patterns that are replicated in the most varied places.

Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have clarified that in contemporary times democracies do not die at the hands of armed generals, but rather at the hands of elected leaders who manage to subvert the process that brought them to power. According to these authors, the main risk of dismantling democratic systems would not be found in coups d’état executed in a classic way, but in the dynamics of authoritarian demolition from within. The triumphant autocrats at the polls maintain a semblance of democracy, but they gut it to the point of stripping it of its content. As Ignacio Sánchez-Cuenca warns, the authoritarian drift “occurs gradually, not through a challenge to the founding principles of democracy, but through a slow dismantling of its institutional rules and practices.” Critical situations in some countries alert us to threats to which we should pay due attention.

“The increase in authoritarian discourses occurs when they are assimilated, sometimes enthusiastically, by sectors of citizens who previously did not question democratic values.”

The increase in authoritarian discourses occurs when they are assimilated, sometimes enthusiastically, by sectors of citizens who previously did not question democratic values. Two decades ago, perceptions that questioned the future of democracy were very minority. Something may be starting to change.

After World War II, for decades there was a general consensus in the Western world in favor of the democratic system. It was based on an intense cultural identification with its rules and the absence of significant alternatives to the contrary. However, Yascha Mounk’s data analysis shows that in recent years in many countries the percentage of people who do not consider it essential to live in a democratically governed country has increased. These are percentages that are still a minority, but are dangerously increasing. And it is worrying to note that they are higher in the younger age groups.

Pluralistic democracy is no longer so indisputable. Since the digital revolution, we are building our societies on new foundations, of uncertain solidity, which can have a very significant impact on the typology of our political system. Everything accelerates at the viral speed of the internet. We should pay attention to these transformations: as Saint-Exupéry knew, the future cannot be guessed, but it can be consented to.