Is Democracy Over?

 

The German government shatters after the FDP, polling no better than 5%, insists on its way or the highway, and Chancelor Scholz calls their bluff. A weakened Scholz faces a February election which probably will look much like Biden’s. All the major parties will look over their shoulder as the right-radical Alternative for Deutschland (AFD) creeps up in the polls.

 

The French government shatters after the newly appointed Prime Minister proposes an austerity budget. Barnier is forced to resign, three roughly equal parties refuse to work together, and President Macron daily looks more like a lame duck.

 

The South Korean government shatters after the President declares martial law, apparently because the opposition is blocking the legislature. President Yoon is likely to be impeached, with the future of leadership unclear.

 

Romania’s runoff election may put an extreme right-winger into the Presidency.

 

In the U.S., Trump’s election promises to strain our alliances, weaken the Ukraine, and reward the rich and the corrupt.

 

What is going on with democracy around the world?

 

In the 90’s, Newt Gingrich transformed the Republican Party by moving it to the right, and by declaring war against the Democrats. Politics no longer would be a competition between our approach and yours, but an existential battle against evil. Compromise in the interest of problem-solving gradually went out of style. The Democratic Party has yet to realize that we are constantly in campaign mode. Waiting for elections to come by is a losing strategy.

 

Next came the housing and financial crisis of 2008. Years of easy low-interest adjustable home mortgages, many to sub-prime borrowers, came to an end when interest rates increased. Bundling mortgages into securities and mortgage credit swaps, intended to reduce risk, actually spread the risks among financial institutions, not just in the U.S. but globally.

 

Obama’s response was to bail out the banks, but not the borrowers. Millions lost their homes and their retirement funds. The resultant anger led to the rise of the Tea Party and the beginning of the normalization of extremism in public life.

 

Once upon a time, people with extreme ideas and prejudices had little public impact. They were treated as “mad uncles,” and kept in the closet. They were embarrassing to most of us. But the 90’s and the crisis of 2008 changed all that. If the political parties did little or nothing to help their citizens, then the citizens would look for alternatives, even those on the edges. Our collective standards of behavior weakened.

 

Gradually, the Republican Party has been taken over by its fringe, and the Democratic Party has moved right in a vain attempt to be “Republican-Light.” Republicans try to gain and hold power by reducing the number of voters, purging election lists, requiring voter id’s, gerrymandering, charging voter fraud, especially in areas where the majority are people of color, and staffing state election boards with Party loyalists. Democrats just wring their hands.

 

Neither major party has focused on helping the people, their principal job. Instead, we have a war of all against all, taking rigid stands instead of trying to solve problems. Our common interests and our common values have been crumbling for decades. Why follow the old rules if they have not gotten us anywhere? Why respect the other side if it no longer plays by the old rules? Why work together if that risks losing power?

 

Once we had a system which included the full spectrum of ideas and beliefs. That system worked to dampen the extremes and to ensure continuity of the common interest. No longer.

 

The democratic middle still tries to play by the old rules. The extremists refuse. We are in a time of instability. Is it any wonder that many here and around the world look for a strong leader to cut through the fog and impose his/her will? Trump pretends, but is not strong at all. Instead, he is a warning of what may come if the people remain angry, lose their jobs, live on the edge in retirement, and lack adequate health care.

 

Not today, but soon, the question will be: “Is democracy over?” We will need a strong, affirmative answer: democracy is vital! The hard work remains, but remember: one must imagine Sisyphus happy.

 

Saturday, 7 Dec 24