A paper released earlier this year from the University of Gothenburg showed that 70% of the world’s population currently lives under a dictator. In the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, we were supposedly in the midst of what Francis Fukuyama called the “end of history” with the march of liberal democracy inevitable. Sadly, the Swedish report reveals that the global level of democracy is back at levels last seen in 1989.
“The figures were the highest in 2012, when there were 42 liberal democracies in the world,” they explain. “In other words, democracies that include things that go beyond government by the people itself: a state governed by the rule of law and fundamental human rights. In 2021, that figure is down to 34 liberal democracies. This means that only 13% of the world’s population live in a democracy as we define it in Sweden, for example.”
Dissatisfaction with liberal democracy
This should perhaps come as little surprise, given that a report published a few years ago by Cambridge University showed that nearly half of us are dissatisfied with democracy.
The data suggests the sharpest fall has been since 2005, during which 38.7% of people were unhappy with democracy, but this has since risen to a shocking 57.5%. This record unhappiness is reflected in democracies from around the world, including the UK, US, Australia, and Brazil, with Japan, Spain, and Greece also near an all-time high.
This general frustration with democracy was evident in a recent report from UCL, which was the culmination of the recent Citizens’ Assembly on Democracy in the UK, which was run by the UCL Constitution Unit. The exercise aims to understand how people in the UK think about democracy and what they would like to see done differently.
Higher standards
The report reveals that there is a strong desire among the public for public figures to hold themselves to much higher standards, while also seeing the power that is so often concentrated in government more distributed so that the public has a stronger voice.
The report builds on a survey undertaken by UCL’s Constitution Unit, which found that people particularly value politicians who are honest and can own up to any mistakes they make.
“The Citizens’ Assembly on Democracy in the UK shows that people across the UK are deeply concerned about the state of our democracy,” the researchers explain. “That’s not just a flash-in-the-pan response to Partygate. Even before the scandal grew, people wanted politicians who are honest and trustworthy, and an enhanced role for independent regulators.”
The exercise was unanimous in finding that people didn’t think these standards were currently being upheld. What’s more, people consistently thought that existing mechanisms were insufficient to police unethical behavior. For instance, practically all respondents thought that lying or intentionally misleading parliament should be punished as contempt of parliament, with those who do so punished by at least a fine.
What’s more, the Code of Conduct that MPs and peers are supposed to abide by should be strengthened, with clear guidelines highlighting the punishment for breaches. Indeed, many believe that regulators need to provide consistent sanctions to all parties and to politicians at all levels of office.
“The recommendations from the Citizens’ Assembly show that when members of the public are given the opportunity to come together and learn about the complexities of our democratic system, and the time to really discuss and deliberate on the system and what they want from it, they can, despite their diversity, reach high levels of agreement,” the team explains.
“Their wide-ranging recommendations are informed by the evidence they heard, are internally consistent, and give a clear indication of where they believe change is needed to create a better democracy for everyone.”
