Due to the currently turbulent political climate, many have argued that democracy has entered a predicament, due to the questioning of legitimacy and representation. In many of the major states, levels of turnout at elections have exponentially plummeted. Cynicism about politics and politicians is thought to be prevalent. Democracy is defined “a system of government based on this belief, in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves” (Cambridge). The impact of democracy is shown through the increase of democratic states since the 3rd wave of democratisation – however, the recent rise in populism and illiberal democracies highlights that the underlying ideas of a democracy may be in danger.
The legitimacy of the government can put into question how democratic a state truly is and illegitimacy in the US electoral system is prominent. There are certain characteristics that prove the legitimacy of what is deemed as a democratic political system. One essential characteristic of a legitimate democracy is that every vote has the same weight: one person equals one vote. However, the USA’s delegator system deviates from this concept; to gain success in the presidency, it is not necessary to win the majority of the popular vote. The majority of the electoral votes win the election— that is, 270 of the electoral college. This can lead to election results that can be viewed as illegitimate— in 2000, for example, Democrat Al Gore won the popular vote by a few hundred thousand votes, but lost the presidency by five electoral votes. This is due to the swing state privilege, as it makes no difference as to how much Al Gore won in a safe state like California because it is always almost certain that California will vote in 55 electors. Thus, it could be argued that millions of votes are futile due to this system. On the other hand, the swing states such as Ohio and Florida have the power in every electoral vote to tip the outcome either way due to the highly polarised political opinions. In addition to this, the electoral voting system has a small state bias as every state is guaranteed at least 3 electors. This adds up to the fact that 4 percent of the country’s population in the smallest states end up being allotted 8 percent of Electoral College votes (Prokop,2016). Therefore, the USA’s delegator model can be seen as illegitimate as every vote is not considered as equal and due to equal weight in the vote is seen as one of the basis of what makes a democracy, it could be argued that democracy is in crisis. Two out of the last five elections in the USA meant that the majority vote lost. However, one could argue that the electoral voting system is better suited than direct democracy via popular vote because it would mean that larger states override the requests of the smaller states. The current system, although does not always highlight the majority vote, ensures that every state’s vote is proportionated, which suggests that it is potentially more democratic. Consequently, although the US electoral can be viewed as illegitimate as the majority vote does not always align with the winner, it means that none of the smaller states become disenfranchised in the elections, which can be seen as maintaining democracy.
Furthermore, democracy could still be deemed in a crisis due to the declining participation undermining legitimacy. Elections are the essential institutions of contemporary democracy (Katz, 1997, p. 1) and if all that are eligible to participate vote, then the results will be a population. However, if the turnout to vote is less than universal, it then becomes a sample. Globally, there has been a trend of lower participation in democracies in the last 60 years. In 1960 nearly 63% of eligible voters participated in the election. Whilst, for the presidential election of 2000, one of the most controversial and closest elections in US history, turnout was 50 percent (Tucker, 2004). An alternative to this could be compulsory voting which is practiced by 19 states in the world (Moraro, 2012). Australia is one of these countries and turnout for election has never fallen below 90%, this would combat the illegitimacy of a low turnout because the winner would actually have a real majority thus making it more democratic. However, that could be argued to be illiberal and undemocratic as it infringes individual freedom. Therefore, enforcing compulsory voting does not make the election more democratic, so the problem could be that the actual voting process itself is impractical and outdated. Hence, it is safe to say that the declining participation highlights that the voting system needs to be addressed as the system has barely changed since the bill of rights. Consequently, lower participation is causing a crisis with democracy but it is due to the unmoving progressiveness of the regime.
In addition, the rise of populism since the new millennium could be seen as a factor in putting democracy in crisis. Populism is defined as “political ideas and activities that are intended to get the support of ordinary people by giving them what they want” (Cambridge). Over the last few years, populism has become tremendously impactful, especially in the European political climate. In the campaigning of Brexit and in the anti-immigration movement during both the German and French election, populism has been at the forefront. The Brexit leave campaign was extensively condemned after the referendum took place for their use of demagoguery, particularly with the fabricated declaration that once the UK depart from the EU there would be a surplus of £350 million per week to give to the National Health Service. But, now that the Article 50 has been invoked, Theresa May, the current British Prime Minister has since stated that there will be no guarantee that the health services would get any additional funding post-Brexit. This elucidates as concluding evidence that one of the biggest promises of the leaving party had no basis. This highlights the crisis within a democracy as many of the populace voted in regard to that particular promise made and many felt that they were lied to, however one’s vote on this referendum cannot be changed. The absurdist and outlandish claims made by the leave campaign shows just how detrimental populism is to democracy as it can deceive many into voting in a particular way with policies that will not happen thus removing the power of the people. Consequently, it is apparent that the rise of populism is causing a crisis within a democracy.
However, it could also be argued that democracy is not within a crisis because of the third wave of democracy which has been occurring throughout the last few decades (Huntington, 1991). This is exemplified by significant transformation within many of the nature of political regimes prior to democratisation. in 1974 there were only 41 democracies amongst the then current 150 states, however, presently about 65% of all the world’s states are considered formal democracies (Diamond, 2006). This is implication is the basic measure of democracy which is electoral efficacy. Although the democratisation process has not been universally linear, it still manages to highlight the progressive objectives making changes. On the other hand, the transitions have not always resulted in consolidated democracies (Rakner, Menocal, Ritz, 2007), which is highlighted through the rise of illiberal democracies. Illiberal democracies are defined as “democratically elected regimes often re-elected or reinforced by referendums that ignore the constitutional limits of their power and deprive their citizens of basic rights and liberties” (Zakaria, 1997). Although the elections were deemed as legitimate, many illiberal democracies undermine the civil rights and liberties of minority groups (e.g. religious or ethnicity). This is seen in Poland’s PiS Party, as one of their policies was to provide 500 zloty to a month to all white Polish children (Miszerak, Mohac 2016). This indicates that democracy is more than how someone is voted into government but also includes protecting citizens basic human rights. Thus, it can be said that democracy is within a crisis because with the growth democracy comes a growth of illiberal democracy, which challenges the fundamental values of what a democracy is.
To conclude, I believe that crisis within democracy due to the magnification tumultuous and disturbing elections of populists in the recent years and by dangers we face in the world today with the disregards to civil liberties. Furthermore, the ever-declining turnout for elections also highlights the democracy is in a crisis. However, both highlight the necessity of democratic vigilance in regard to human rights and the dire need for refurbishment in regard to electoral vote.