France is not alone in its crisis of political faith. Faith in a democratic world is fading Simon Tisdale
eEmmanuel Macron looked like a man in grief. Not angry, not defiant, just a little sad. He expressed his regret that Europe is suffering from “Decline of democracyThe French president said that many of the threats emanate from abroad, from Russia, from China, from powerful American technology companies and social media entrepreneurs. But we should not be naive. Inside we are turning against ourselves. We doubt our democracy… We see everywhere that something is happening to our democratic fabric. “The democratic debate is turning into a hate debate.”
The reality is that Macron, sandwiched between the extremes of the right and left, knows what he is talking about. But “ungovernable” France is not alone in its bitter and intractable divisions. Across Europe, in the United Kingdom and the United States, mistrust and grievance daily deepen political dysfunction and social discord. In fact, Macron’s words apply to almost any country that embraces democratic principles. The belief that democracy is the form of government most suitable for the modern world is diminishing, especially among young people. At the same time, public space becomes rougher and more violent. Macron was speaking at a ceremony marking the 35th anniversary of German reunification in 1990, a moment of great optimism. But today’s polarized Germany, like France, faces a severe crisis of political faith.
Just look around. In last weekend’s elections, the Czech Republic followed Poland, Austria and other EU countries in turning toward the populist hard right, swept up in a rising tide of anti-establishment negativity. Supporting opportunistic fanatics who thrive on fear, resentment, and loss – while lacking credible policies on complex issues like immigration – is not an endorsement of democracy, but a subversion of it. This ugly push to extremism is a vote of no confidence in the democratic system itself, exacerbated by low levels of participation and turnout among disadvantaged social groups.
In all of these countries, there is a significant lack of national democratic consensus. And in a decrepit, desperate Britain, where national flags are worn like comfort blankets, both major parties are faltering; However, the alternatives are either implausible or downright harmful. In the United States, “the home of democracy,” effective opposition to single-party Republican rule has collapsed, at least at the national level. Strive to Congressional districtsDonald Trump Increasingly similar dictator.
The lack of true democratic choice and economic opportunity, which fuels isolation and revolution, afflicts countries as diverse as Morocco, Kenya, and Bangladesh, all of which have experienced recent unrest. In the Philippines, Nigeria, Turkey, Indonesia and Madagascar, corruption and abuse of power sparked anti-government protests. in Nepal Last month, young people supported the “Generation Z revolution.” All these countries, in Europe and beyond, are different – except in one very important respect. Compared to authoritarian regimes such as China and Russia, their societies remain open and relatively free at the present time.
This is the fundamental challenge that both sides face: either democracy is not working, or it is working so poorly that it risks being abandoned. The once exemplary United States – the missing model – and a divided Western Europe are now faltering. Once again, the less established democracies of the Global South, and of Central and Eastern Europe, are the frontline states in the renewed cold war for influence and values against the Beijing-Moscow axis. As happened in Moldova and Georgia, to name a few, the two countries could go in either direction.
A crisis is coming. In its annual report, Freedom House, a US-based human rights watchdog, found that violence, electoral manipulation and repression were marred by corruption. more than 40% of national elections to be held in 2024. Universal freedom, assessed in terms of political freedoms and civil rights, declined for the 19th straight year. “Conflicts spread instability and have thwarted democratic progress around the world,” the report concluded.
In the United States, A Last scan A record 64% of Americans found their democracy “too politically divided to solve the country’s problems.” In the UK, a poll of 16-29 year olds showed that 63% think… Democracy is in trouble. While young people “would rather live in a democracy than a dictatorship by 57% to 27%,” only 35% said they would consider engaging in organized politics.
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If there were some kind of global anti-democratic revolution, or at least a serious loss of confidence in democratic systems, that would be… It’s helpful to know why. Short- and long-term economic issues – costs of living, inflation, lack of good jobs, deindustrialisation, fractured societies, institutional failure, wealth inequality, globalisation, mass migration linked to the climate crisis, and the broken myth of infinitely sustainable growth – are all factors. Untrustworthy leaders, who reflect declining moral standards, are another matter. Malicious election interference and online fraud by Russia and others are accelerating the collapse. Younger generations are facing an aging population. There is despair, as well as anger, about the chaos the world is experiencing, environmentally and geopolitically.
For Andreas Reckwitz of Humboldt University in Berlin, all this discontent is rooted in a general, deep and widespread sense of loss. Reckwitz says that “the foundational lie of Western modernity” – the post-Enlightenment belief that human progress is constant and inevitable, that everything gets better with time, and that life gets better – has been brutally blown up by the experience of recent decades. “Loss has become a pervasive condition of life…The question is no longer whether loss can be avoided, but whether societies associated with ‘better’ or ‘more’ can learn to tolerate ‘less’ and ‘worse’.”
From this perspective, it is easy to understand the rejection of failed democratic structures and the advance of demagogic reactionaries that pledge a return to “the way things were.” “If politics continues to promise endless improvement,” Reckwitz wrote, “it will fuel disillusionment and foster a populism that thrives on disloyal expectations.” “Populism channels anger at what has disappeared, but offers only illusions of recovery. The crucial question then becomes: How do we deal with loss?”
Reckwitz has his own suggestions, which include flexibility and redistribution. If anyone has a concrete answer, Macron, who has a lot to lose, would surely love to hear it.