The State of Democracy Today

Published in Le Journal de Québec
(Canada) on 14 December 2021
by Mathieu Bock-Côté (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Mollie Lippett. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
Joe Biden recently organized an international virtual summit on the future of democracy.

The agenda included global reflection on the future of a political regime that we thought would be forever triumphant after the fall of the Berlin Wall a little over 30 years ago.

Today, it is being challenged by great authoritarian powers such as China and Turkey.

Biden

We saw liberal democracy spreading throughout the world, as if every country had to convert to it. It was a dream. But just a pipe dream.

Today, it is again, in many respects, a peculiarity of Western society. We should have known better: Democracy requires a particular cultural and civilizational context in which to flourish. Democracy is not imposed by force or by bombs, as we have seen in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But we can also see today that democracy is weakened in the Western world. However, the picture is more complex as we see conflicting diagnoses for the crisis.

For some, democracy is threatened by what they call populism. An image of raging people, tempted by the tyranny of the majority's identity. For others, it is the opposite: Democracy is threatened by a government of judges and the omnipotence of "minority" lobbies that stifle the legitimate aspirations of the majority.

Crisis

Through all this, what are we to think of social networks that are transforming our way of debating, of the ideological fanaticism that is back in fashion, of censorship laws that are multiplying, of economic powers that no longer think on a national scale?

In short, the crisis is profound.

We simply don't know what we are talking about anymore when we speak about democracy. The first thing to do is to clarify the language, get beyond the confusion. It is really a question of mental clarity.


Joe Biden organisait ces derniers jours un sommet international virtuel sur l’avenir de la démocratie.

Au programme, une réflexion globale sur l’avenir d’un régime politique que l’on croyait pour de bon triomphant, après la chute du mur de Berlin, il y a un peu plus de 30 ans.

On le découvre aujourd’hui contesté par l’affirmation de grandes puissances autoritaires, comme la Chine ou la Turquie.

Biden

On voyait la démocratie libérale s’étendre à travers le monde, comme si chaque pays devait s’y convertir. C’était un rêve. Mais ce n’était qu’un beau rêve.

Aujourd’hui, elle redevient, à bien des égards, une particularité des sociétés occidentales. Il aurait fallu s’en douter : la démocratie exige un contexte culturel et civilisationnel particulier pour éclore. On ne l’impose pas par la force ou par les bombes, comme on l’a constaté en Irak et en Afghanistan.

Mais on constate aussi, aujourd’hui, que la démocratie est fragilisée dans le monde occidental. Le portrait est toutefois plus complexe, car les diagnostics sur cette crise s’entrechoquent.

Pour les uns, la démocratie serait menacée par ce qu’ils appellent le populisme. Ils s’imaginent un peuple rageur, tenté par la tyrannie identitaire de la majorité.

Pour les autres, c’est le contraire : la démocratie serait menacée par le gouvernement des juges et la toute-puissance des lobbies « minoritaires » qui étoufferaient les aspirations légitimes de la majorité.

Crise

À travers cela, que penser des réseaux sociaux qui transforment notre manière de débattre, du fanatisme idéologique qui revient à la mode, des lois de censure qui se multiplient, des puissances économiques qui ne se pensent plus à l’échelle nationale ?

Résumons : la crise est très profonde.

Nous ne savons tout simplement plus de quoi nous parlons lorsque nous parlons de démocratie. La première chose à faire consisterait à clarifier les termes. Pour sortir de la confusion. C’est une question d’hygiène mentale.
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

Hot this week

Poland: Charlie Kirk’s Death Is a Warning to America

Canada: The Media Is Yielding to Trump: A MAGA Shift Is Underway

Malaysia: A Major Breakthrough of US and EU on Ukraine or Mere Rant? ASEAN Taking Notes

Germany: The Controversial Giant

Bangladesh: Donald Trump’s 19th Century Nationalism in a 21st Century World

Topics

South Korea: Trump’s Mind: What No One Knows

Paraguay: Believing What You’re Told without Knowing If It’s True: The Dangers of Disinformation

Austria: Trump’s U-Turn on Ukraine Is No Reason To Celebrate

Canada: The Media Is Yielding to Trump: A MAGA Shift Is Underway

Germany: The Controversial Giant

Iran: 2 Scenes from Masoud Pezeshkian’s Trip to New York

Bangladesh: Donald Trump’s 19th Century Nationalism in a 21st Century World

Sri Lanka: Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize Bid Paved with Gaza Corpses

Related Articles

Germany: The Controversial Giant

Turkey: Market Access Isn’t Success: Trade Deals Won’t Save US Automakers

Germany: Trump Wants To Shut Down the Free Press for Good*

Singapore: TikTok Deal Would Be a Major Win for Trump, but Not in the Way You Might Expect

Mexico: Nostalgia for the Invasions