The Democracy Dilemma
Kaitlin Dryburgh
People still believe in democracy, or do they? What was once a forgone conclusion that most people strive to live in a democratic country is on a shaky peg with the younger generations. But why is that? The recent examples of conduct among some of the leading Western nations of late have been sub-par, to say the least. Could this be the turn off or is it thought that in light of continuous let down promises over green policies, housing, the NHS etc that some believe democracy doesn't deliver for them. Either way we should
September last year brought rather troubling news via an Open Society Foundation survey which found that although the majority of respondents from across the 30 countries still had faith in democracy, only 57% of 18–35-year-olds still believe democracy is preferable to any other form of governance. That is quite frankly a terrifying statistic. Adding to that higher numbers of young people expressed that a stronger leader was one who didn’t consult with other politicians or hold elections.
Have we become complacent with exhibiting the merits of democracy? It wouldn’t be hard to make that argument with the likes of Trump and Johnson proving to have such low regard for their position. It’s overall a very alarming position we find ourselves in.
Surprisingly- most of all to me- I find myself agreeing with Michael Gove. In a recent interview with the Times he warned that if the housing crisis isn’t tackled then this could lessen the appeal of democracy for the younger generation. Working hard and seeing little opportunity to get on the housing ladder like the traditional system could potentially effect the way young people view their society. Gove expands further by saying “If people think that markets are rigged and a democracy isn’t listening to them, then you get an increasing number of young people saying, ‘I don’t believe in democracy, I don’t believe in markets.” I would also hasten to add that although this is hitting young people harder, the housing crisis is affecting all age groups.
Although I do believe in Gove’s sentiment I’m sure we would disagree about the people who responsible for this failure, and most likely the solution.
There is a housing crisis just about covering all of Europe, and further afield. In Amsterdam for example a property there is now 16 times the average salary and waiting lists for social housing have hit 19 years. With the overall decline in young people’s faith in democracy Gove could be correct. If that generation continue to be offered lesser conditions than their parents and their concerns aren’t addressed, why should they put faith in politicians? If the current system isn’t listening or offering any solutions perhaps this will turn those away and force them to look elsewhere.
Have we also been offering up the very best to put on the ballot paper? One of the biggest threats to democracy is corruption, it’s ability to slowly erode trust between government and the public is pretty much unmatched. The likes of Boris Johnson really started to push the limits of the UK’s trust in government and democracy, many believe this backsliding of trust isn’t leaving at any fast rate. Since 2019 a lot has taken place and the party-gate scandal, is the perfect example of what’s got us to where we are now.
The Scottish Government has also added fuel to the fire and spurred on the decline of trust in democratic processes. We’ve got key figures in the governing party arrested and an ongoing investigation which has a high probability of hitting us with more damning revelations. WhatsApp’s being deleted and more importantly carbon cutting targets being cast aside, all while people are living through a cost-of-living crisis. Now that’s not to say that we should believe that an autocratic system is better, it wouldn’t and the likely hood of that ever materialising is slim, but it is highly unlikely a country will ever be successful or achieve solid social cohesion without trust in the government.
It is also hard to build trust in governments and the democracy that they represent when the change more often that you visit your dentist. We don’t live in a presidential system, and we don’t vote for the leader of any party, yet how can you put your faith in a party when we’ve now become accustomed to a new leader every year. It’s difficult for young people to find stability in these institutions if they act as a revolving door. Which is further exasperated when issues are not being addressed, but that goes for everyone really. “Why should I vote it doesn’t make a difference”, is a dangerous sentiment to encourage.
Internationally this also doesn’t bode well for us. We’ve always maintained an air of smugness around democracy, that what we have is what everyone else is chasing. It’s an idealism that we have rightfully tried to promote, perhaps not always recognising differing points of views though. Yet our recent mishaps haven’t gone unnoticed and with the likes of Trump it’s no longer a done deal that other nations look to us and think ‘I want a piece of that’. Military coups in Africa are receiving increased support from civilians, and although each individual one is a result of many influencing factors our high ground is not even close to where it used to be.
We deserve better outcomes, but we also deserve better conduct. The dangers with prolonged failures to fix a situation such as the housing crisis is more than the disillusionment of the people it affects, or party politics but a deterioration in the belief that anything can be achieved. It’s chipping away at the younger generation’s forward-looking views and unfortunately their increasing indifference to a democratic system could result in a further swing to far-right like we’ve seen through-out Europe. The threat of the far-right is undisputedly real, but one of the soundest strategies to stifle this rise is showing democracy working at its best. Listening to people, including young people in policies, delivering on promises, holding positions of power with honesty and integrity, all of this makes it hard for people to argue against the merits of democracy.