The illusory rebellion scenes in Washington that aired on television screens around the world immediately made me think of two books. One is called the “winter of democracy” and the other the “people against democracy.”
Signed by Guy Hermet, the first French political scientist and historian, appeared in 2007, warning that democracy has entered an aging phase as it has lost its “meaning”. The French historian puts forward a number of arguments in support of his demonstration, namely, “tele-democracy”, Berlusconi’s invention in Italy, or the various forms of populist democracies spreading in Europe … , That is, it appears at one point and disappears, becoming something else, another moment in the evolution of society.
“People Against Democracy” is another wonderful article, published in France in 2018 and signed by a young German political scientist of German descent, Professor Yasa Mounk at Harvard. “Democracy and liberalism are now in complete divorce,” he explains, explaining why the current era is so complex. Yasa Mounk says our freedom is in danger, and to save it we must pursue “restricted nationalism” and radical reforms. “
I quote these two books because many events in recent years confirm that democracy has entered a kind of “historic winter” and that in many countries not only democratically elected leaders but also “people” with great freedom have been confirmed. They believe they can create something better than democracy.
French democracy has been massively challenged in 2019 as the so-called “yellow news” calls for the establishment of “live democracy”. In Hungary, Victor Orban created a “liberal democracy” and this concept is followed by other countries such as Poland. Donald Trump embodies right-wing populism and the notion of “dictatorial democracy.” In short, democracy seems to be hesitant and declining on the planet, while dictatorship is expanding.
Ten years ago, a pro-democracy movement erupted in several Arab countries, but eventually dictators defeated Tunisia with one exception. In India, often referred to as the largest democracy in the world due to the large number of voters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promotes a nationalist policy as opposed to a democratic one. In a democracy with a long tradition, as in Britain, dishonest populists, through false promises, led Brexit to create an anti-European movement. Or, the European Union is the structured place of the highest civilized democracy ever, because this model is liberal and social.
So, if we are not vigilant, we can expect many bad things to happen to democracy in the future, especially as the epidemic has tested this model. China, the world’s second largest economy, seeks to teach humanities lessons and shows that a strictly controlled and liberal society can tackle more problems than democracies. To conclude this brief picture of the dangers that threaten democracy, I will point out Democracies on the facadeIn other words, the political class is the terrible cases of countries that reflect democracy, but corruption is really on the rise.
If the planet’s inequality continues to worsen and the planet’s resources are depleted in the name of blind competition, democracies are unlikely to survive if new technologies transform man into a consumer of the media instead of cultivating critical thinking. Entertainment.
The crisis of democracy in the United States is a serious warning signal about a model in a crossroads. This means finding resources to rebuild or enter the final winter.
