The limits and benefits of liberal democracy
Ryan Bhaskar
Liberal democracy is a union between liberalism, which advocates liberty, the consent of the governed, and equality before the law, and democracy ( demos = the people; kratia = rule), which advocates the will of the people: liberalism ensures that the people are free, preventing the tyranny of the majority, and democracy ensures political stability as a result of the will of the people being carried out – democracies such as those of the liberal west have lasted for decades and even centuries. However, these two principles may come into conflict with each other. Many liberals advocate for free markets and free trade, which can also come into conflict with democracy. There are a number of challenges that liberal democracy faces: the threat to democracy from foreign intelligence, political polarization and economic inequality, practical challenges, and the effects of democracy on minorities. Evidence that liberal democracy is the most just and most rational form of social and political organization is that countries that use liberal democratic systems often have lower levels of inequality and corruption, and greater levels of economic growth, transparency and accountability (see the graphs in the appendix). It is shown that more democracy and political freedom results in lower inequality and steady economic growth. This is a result of people voting according to their interests, which results in policies that promote lower inequality while not significantly halting economic growth. A graph in the appendix shows the economic growth of Norway (blue) and Iran (orange) from 1961 to 2019: Norway has a slower economic growth, while Iran has had a quicker but less stable economic growth. The trough in Iran’s economic growth coincides with the Iran revolution in 1978 -9, before which capital flight was great, and after which industries were nationalized and the state controlled prices; the more recent decline coincides with the USA leaving the Iran Nuclear Deal. What this shows is that more stable countries with freer markets, such as those with liberal democracies, have more stable economies, due to the lower risk of sudden changes. The other trend shown by the graphs is that more democratic and free countries have more transparency, accountability and less corruption. This is expected, because in a liberal democratic society, people require the knowledge, with which they can vote and be governed by consent. Despite its success, liberal democracy continues to face challenges from foreign countries, such as Russia and China, which are exploiting new technology to create disinformation campaigns to undermine political stability in liberal democracies. For example, in 2016 the GRU published thousands of Clinton campaign emails. However, having a democracy that is somewhat influenced by foreign intelligence is more rational than having a dictatorship. Democracy is also facing challenges from within. Liberal democracy often produces weak leadership owing to disagreement, resulting in a desire for strong leadership, which can become a dictatorship; weak leaders fail to confront aspiring dictators. An extract from an article in the Foreign Affairs magazine March/April 2021 titled Democracy on the Defense written by Yascha Mounk sums this up:
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