Democracy vs. autocracy

Recent global socio-political events in some countries points to a continuing attack on democracy and democratic institutions. Last week, China’s Xi Jinping extended his 10-year term and cemented his absolute power over the Chinese communist party and his country. He put all his loyalists in the top positions, restrained all critical voices and suppressed all opposition.

Russia’s Putin is solely deciding the continuing invasion of Ukraine, including the conscription of 200,000 reluctant men, while muting the slightest objections from the people and even from his military. Last week, Myanmar’s military general bombed a youth concert that killed 40 people in an area known to be anti-government, and refused the ASEAN initiative for peace. Iran’s Khamenei has killed hundreds of demonstrators on this second month of civil protests, and North Korea’s Kim has totally silenced his people with the successive firing of missiles across South Korea and Japan. This is autocracy.

Autocracy is a system of government where one person has both absolute power and uncontrolled/unlimited authority. It is a government in which power over the state is concentrated in only one person whose decisions are not subject to legal challenge or control.

In history most emperors and kings were autocrats. Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Jean-Claude Duvalier, Pol Pot, and Ferdinand Marcos Sr. would also be examples. Authoritarian or totalitarian governments that impose restrictions on civil liberties eventually move to autocracy as strongmen leaders accumulate more and more power, relegating even his cronies to be “yes-men”.

Democracy comes from the greek word “demos” meaning people, and “kratos” meaning power, so it is power of the people. It originally started in Greece where the small population in the island city state made it possible to have direct democracy. All eligible citizens were allowed to voice their opinion and it was mandatory for them to serve for a time in the government. As the concept was adopted by other states/countries with bigger territories and population, the idea of a representative democracy came about, where/when the people have to elect representatives to voice out their suggestions or object to the actions of the government.

Thousands of years have elapsed since the time of the ancient Greeks, and 52% of the more the 200 states/countries in the world are now in various forms of democracy. Undoubtedly, due to geography, (due to size and distance), racial and cultural variety, and other differences, representative democracy is a difficult form of government. This is probably the reason that the Nordic states/countries with smaller areas and homogeneous populations have the more successful democratic governments. The level of economic development also comes into play, with the economic disparity fueling the rising expectations of the people. This is the reason why democracies in developing countries are struggling, and are under attack and undermined by potential dictators, who spout populist slogans and the need for strong governments.

Fortunately, technological advances and globalization have counterbalanced and defended the progress of democracy. Information dissemination/transmission aids transparency which makes governments accountable to the people. Or the abuses and atrocities we are now made aware of by main and social media wouldn’t be known. The little we know about the Tiananmen massacre in China, the dismal living conditions in North Korea, and the complaints of Russian conscripts would not be available for the world to see and hear if not for IT technologies.

There is even a prognosis about the rise or fall of democracy by analysts and pundits, and it varies/evolves as the state of global economy and society changes. At the current pace of world upheavals, ongoing wars, rebellions, economic recessions and technological changes which are affecting all kinds of governments, it appears that the democratically-governed states/countries are faring better than the autocrat governed countries.

It has something to do with the people partly owning responsibility for the situation, as they have been part of the governance rather than just an observer. Considering all the factors, there is a greater probability that democracy will prevail in more countries in the coming years. There is also the taste of freedom, that is sweet to all people.