The People Against Democracy, from Yascha Mounk, It is a highly recommended and highly topical book. The author maintains that democracy is being cornered, no longer by dictators, but by political leaders elected in electoral processes. And the dangerous thing is that, through this route, the populists are coming to power.
The political rivalry is no longer between socialists and capitalists, nor between left and right. Today the political dispute is between populism and liberal democracy. In some countries populists are ruling. These are charismatic characters, who were elected by the citizen vote, and now they are trying to transform democratic life into an electoral dictatorship.
First, populism presents itself as very democratic, but once in power it tries to erode institutions and individual liberties. Mounk warns that the word “people” is used by populism to appropriate the will and voice of citizens. Expressions such as “we are the people”, “we act on behalf of the people” or “the people are wise”, are part of a populism that is very hostile towards democracy.
This contradiction between the people and democracy was observed in the case of Brexit, which marked the departure of Great Britain from the European Union. Later it was also expressed in the election of Donald Trump in the United States. And currently, this lethal populism is present in Italy, France, Venezuela, Turkey, Mexico, Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil.
Yascha Mounk dedicates a large part of her book to presenting various proposals to deal with measures, or populist governments. Among them stands out the fight against corruption, but also social mobilization to denounce abuses of power. He argues that politicians who are extremists should definitely be isolated.
The People Against Democracy illustrates that at a certain moment it is necessary to accept losing the elections, but what cannot be accepted is losing democracy. Institutions make it possible for people with divergent interests to live in peace and harmony. However, institutions are necessary for the survival of democracy, says Mounk.
It is no coincidence, then, that more and more citizens feel a kind of disenchantment with the democratic way of life. For decades liberalism and democracy were considered to be a solid unit. But recent events have shown that this is not the case. In current times the democratic system is in serious danger, it is in crisis.
Yascha Mounk describes the mechanisms of rise of populism in some countries. He also proposes various courses of action to be able to recover the system of liberal democracy that we have been losing. In a forceful way, Mounk affirms “We have very little time to lose: this could be our last chance to save democracy”.
#electoral #dictatorship