The downside of being president

The obvious attraction of being the head of state as President, Prime Minister, or King is the power over a vast number of people, of being able to control events, and in some instances the enormous wealth that goes with them. There is no shortage of aspirants to be the “top honcho” in any country as far back as the beginning of time, but history is also littered with fallen kings, monarchs, and tyrants. Some are thrust or forced into their positions by the people, but many others fight their way to reach their ultimate ambition by all means possible.

Recent events show that a number of heads of states are having problems. US President Trump is under investigations with some of his people testifying against him, his handling of domestic and international issues unraveling, and his net approval rating at negative. UK Prime Minister Teresa May is grappling with the Brexit approval from the Parliament and the people. Russia Prime Minister Putin is in a stand-off with Ukraine and Europe, and contending with a simmering domestic protest of an economy in doldrums. There is also the Saudi Arabia King fending off accusations in the killing of Khashoggi, the dropping oil prices, the potential domestic dissention over the sidelining of the other royals, and the long years of limited freedom in his kingdom. Myanmar’s Aung Sun Suu Kyi, has been stripped of her Nobel Peace Prize over the Rohingya crisis, and her country has not progressed much politically and economically. Malaysia’s Mahatir, after deposing the corruption-laden Najib regime is trying to put the economy and civil service in order and recover some of the plundered national wealth. Even China President Xi, is faced with the geo-political ramifications of their push on the South China Sea, the dissent of the racial minorities, and the slowing economy which will be compounded by a trade war with the US. In the Philippines, the Duterte government is battling inflation, poverty, the NPA rebellion, resurgent criminality and terrorism, and increasing criticism of the deadly drug war. These are just the problems that we know that are coming from the main and social media. There are more below the surface and coming.

National or country governance has really become more complex and complicated over the years brought about by an expanding population and the advances in science and technology, particularly information and communication technology. Globalization has made the world smaller and more interrelated to each other. More information is available to more people and at a faster pace with radio, TV, the internet, and the smartphone. More people are also travelling faster to more places and exchanging ideas with more people. This has increased the social, political, and economic awareness of more people which leads to higher expectations from their governments and their leaders. Domestic and world events are happening at a faster pace that the repercussions in the individual countries are unmanageable in many instances, leading to public dissatisfaction and government unpopularity.

There are some seemingly less-troubled regimes in smaller countries, particularly in the Nordic areas like Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, and others. These are countries with small populations and high per capita income, and with democratic/socialist governments. There are still challenges to their presidents but more muted due to the smaller constituency and better economic conditions. And the lesson to be learned here are; the size of the country and population, a democratic regime that allows people to voice out their concerns, less inequality, and moderated expectations of the people. The more power is claimed or abrogated by the leader the higher are the expectations of the people. Consequently, the more authoritarian the government, the higher the probability of failure in governance. History did and will bear this out.