Almost exactly two years after a crowd of fans Donald Trump will raid the headquarters of the legislative power in the US to try to cancel the confirmation of his election victory in the US. at Joe Biden 2020 election, Thousands of Brazilians seized the main institutions of power in Brasilia with the widespread goal of restoring the presidency following Jair Bolsonaro’s electoral defeat against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Both of them coups failedthey only served to demonstrate the coup, after the military and other power sources resolutely refused to support the coup. fragility of democracy in the face of internally incited attacks by populist leaders those who came to power later using the same democratic mechanisms they tried to blow up.
in this way gradually destroying the democratic structure continues to gain followers, as seen in the cases. Hungary, Poland, India, Savior, Serbian anyone Turkey. And it helps to speed up the alarm decline of democracy In a world that has seen the progress of the past three decades evaporate and return to the democratic levels that existed in 1989, The Soviet Union, according to the latest report by the V-Dem Institute of the University of Gothenburg. This regression liberal democracy an anomaly today. According to the same source, it went up to 34 out of 42 countries that implemented it just ten years ago. 13% of the world’s population. This 70% of planet’s inhabitants live under instead autocratic regimes or dictatorships.
“The outlook is pretty ominous and has been for years,” he says. Kevin Casas-Zamora, President of the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Aid (IDEA). The reasons are many, but the growing loss of prestige of countries that once set an example to other people with democratic aspirations helps. “Western powers saw eroded your credibility As a result Financial Crisis, invasion of Iraq or the terrible experience of the Trump administration,” says Casas-Zamora. alternative governance models offering reliable approaches to improving access. Chinese probably the best example.
The path of choice to authoritarianism
and yet traditional blowswith tanks in the street, televisions shot at gunpoint, especially Africa Y Asiaas recent riots have shown Chad, Financial, Guinea, Myanmar anyone Thailandrise authoritarian populism brought with it a new way of blowing up freedoms. “paradox the path of choice to authoritarianism is that democracy killers use very democratic institutions to slowly, subtly, and even kill democracy. legal“, wrote authors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt in ‘The Guardian’.How Democracies Die(How democracies die).
The order varies by country, but tools for dismantling checks and balances executive power they overlap recursively. Five actions are enough to destroy, or at least try, democracy.
Prank for the critical press
It is one of the basic standards for measuring. democratic health of a country is the degree of independence of the instruments. check power and voicing public concerns, which free press one of the first goals of any self-respecting autocrat. Trump had to make do with himself daily smear campaigns against “enemies of the people“, unlike what happened in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, where the critical press was virtually liquidated. An example is the case of his most outstanding student, Víktor Orban.
In just 12 years in power, the policies of ultra-nationalists have left more than 80% of the country. hungarian media According to Freedom House, it’s in the hands of the government and its allies. And how did he do it? encourage takeover by oligarchs like-minded, denying licenses, or drying up headstrong media ads. This “Hungarian occupation” model is similar to that implemented by Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, or daniel ortega inside NicaraguaIt is imitated in other countries as follows: Serbian.
Intimidation of civil society
Attacks on defending organizations human rights, feminism, ethnic or religious minorities, immigrants wave society LGBTI It is another of the usual practices of authoritarian populisms to eliminate social counterweights and create an environment of extreme polarization. One of the most common ways to do this is, “foreign agents” also NGO who takes external financingA model followed with different nuances in Russia, Israel or Hungary, or engage national security to restrict their activities. anti-terrorism laws. Other times, everything is done less cunningly, as in Poland. Andrezj Duda declaring vast areas of the country “Does not include LGTBI“.
Disinformation and propaganda
This social media they have be allies of future autocrats to demonize their opponents politicians, to discredit institutions Y spreading hate against anyone who doesn’t dance to the sound of his music. In that shaker, disinformation and Lie are essential elements to intensify. political polarization and blur shared principles Anchoring democratic societies, Trump was the great teacher of this strategy, followed by Bolsonaro or the environment. Narendra Modi on IndiaA president who has made Hindu supremacy and discrimination against the Muslim minority the pillars of his regime.
Move on separation of powers
You don’t have to ban political parties or arrest opposition leaders to control a political party. Parliament, where a simple majority is sufficient for a president’s wishes to become orders. something else power of attorneywhich anchors Rule of law. your independence Under siege in 45 countries, according to the 2021 report of the US consulting firm Verisk Maplecroft. probably in europe Poland Where its functions as a counterbalance to execution are most undermined. Various reforms have reduced magistrates’ power to concentrate their powers over the court. Justice Minister or facilitated its removal. rebel Supreme Court judgesIn addition to the imposition of disciplinary penalties for those who make judgments against the government’s criteria, a number of measures have been challenged by Brussels.
Query selection integrity
Nothing seems more effective in encouraging the masses to rise up in the streets than to sow doubts about power. credibility of the selection process. Both Bolsonaro and Trump spent months before losing the election, declaring in advance that they would only lose if there was a recount. fraudulentnail fraud allegations then they hold lose re-election despite the approval of the competent authorities. Used by the same refrain Burmese military To justify his coup in 2021. Nicaragua Ortega’s method was a little different. Sandinista devoted himself to branding the electoral commission tasked with supervising and approving elections as loyalists.