By Mohan Guruswamy
In a recently published book, How Democracies Die, two Harvard professors, Steven Levitsky and Donald Ziblatt conclude that the democratic decline usually begins from the ballot box.
Most democratic breakdowns have been caused by the elected leaders and not by military generals.
Unlike the classic coup d’etat, the new autocrats do not suspend the constitution or bring tanks to occupy Parliament, or kill their political opponents. They maintain a facade of democracy while adopting three strategies to subvert it.
- Taking control of the judiciary and security agencies.
- Marginalising political opponents.
- Changing electoral rules to gain advantages in polls.
The book warns against the breakdown of mutual toleration and respect for the political legitimacy of the opposition. This tolerance involves accepting the results of a free and fair election where the opposition has won, in contrast with advocacy for overthrow or spurious complaints about the election mechanism.
The authors also assert the importance of respecting the opinions of those who come to legitimately different political opinions, in contrast to attacking the patriotism of any who disagree, or warning that if they come to power they will destroy the country.
The authors point out that the various branches of government in a system with separation of powers have actions available to them that could completely undermine the other branches or the opposition. The authors warn against ramming through a political agenda or accumulating power by playing “constitutional hardball” with tactics like court packing, stonewalling nominations, or abusing the power of the purse, and recommend “forbearance” and some degree of cooperation to keep government functioning in a balanced fashion. Other threats to democratic stability cited by the authors include economic inequality and segregation of the political parties by race, religion, and geography.
When you look at the functioning of a few countries these observations sound familiar.
Mohan Guruswamy is the founder of Guruswamy Foundation. Among many hats he wore, he was also a part of the panel that discussed the genesis of G20.
