Democracies will die unless they serve voters’ interests

If democracies fail to improve the lives of the populations they serve, we should not be surprised when those voters lose faith in democracy itself

Democracy is supposed to be empowering. Elections should evoke a feeling of power in the voter as they go to cast their ballot, knowing that they have made a decisive judgment on those who run their government.

Conversely, a democracy is not supposed to placate, patronise or pacify the thoughts and feelings of voters. When voters vote for change, and what they get is more of the same, said voters are likely to feel dissatisfied, disgruntled, and perhaps a little disrespected.

When elections, instead of empowering voters, arouse feelings of indifference and apathy among them, something has gone badly wrong. And if those feelings are allowed to fester, year after year, disappointment after disappointment, it should be no surprise to see democracy itself come under threat.

Perhaps at first, voter dissatisfaction is directed towards the person and/or party for which they voted, and for whom they feel personally aggrieved. “I’ll never vote for you again!” they’ll vow, as the next election looms and the promises remain unkept.

Along rolls another election, and this time voters know better than to vote for the party that let them down. Instead they vote for the new and improved opposition party, excited at the chance to boot out those bastards in government who didn’t do what they said they were going to do.

Alas, again, the new government arrives full of hope and expectation, but manages to make only a few tweaks in office, opting instead for a broad continuation of the status quo. Voter demands go unmet once more. “Fuck the system!” they cry, now realising there are bigger problems afoot than simply which party is in charge.

From this point on, democracy is in the balance. Perpetually dissatisfied voters may decide simply to not bother voting, to become apathetic. Others may become motivated to protest, to get active with campaign groups working to make change happen, and go beyond simply casting a ballot once every few years. But there is another path for the disgruntled voter that leads, potentially, to a darker outcome.

Still living a dissatisfactory life, perhaps with no job, or with a job that doesn’t pay well enough; perhaps with substandard healthcare; perhaps with insecure or unsafe housing; perhaps with a poor education that denies them the chance to reach their potential; perhaps all of the above; these voters have been repeatedly denied the change for which they voted. Now they might fall prey to alternative narratives; to the idea that their dissatisfactory life is the fault not just of government, but of outsiders, of people who do not ‘belong’.

Hate, as we have seen time and time again through history, represents a real and present danger to democracy. Hate defies logic, making it easy to manipulate. Hate, once harnessed, can be directed towards the destruction of democratic institutions by people who would rather have that power all to themselves. When democracy does not work for you, autocracy no longer sounds like such a bad prospect.

It is easy to blame those who want to destroy democracy. Of course they should be blamed. But what has created the conditions to allow that destruction? Why have autocrats been able to win support for their brazen bids to subvert and to sabotage the entire democratic system?

The democracies most under threat are the democracies that are most flawed. They have failed to adapt, failed to evolve, and failed to fulfil their most basic function; electing governments that improve the lives of the populations they serve.

In the United States of America, democracy has become a sham. Elected representatives serve not the people who voted for them, but the donors who funded their campaigns. Decisions on whether or not to support particular policies and particular laws are based not on whether such decisions are in the best interest of their voters, but on whether they are in the best interests of their financial backers.

Is it any wonder US voters feel disgruntled with democracy? Is it any wonder that they disrespect the democratic institutions that fail to stand up for them?

When people’s basic needs are being met, when people feel satisfied knowing that they are being listened to, being respected, and that the government is responding to their concerns, they have no reason to hate, to fear, or to rage. When people have none of these things, a space for hate emerges.

It is no coincidence that many of the world’s most established democracies are now coming under simultaneous threat. The warning signs have gone unheeded. Voter apathy, voter anger and voter intolerance has been allowed to fester. The democracies that survive will be the ones that recognise why they have failed and understand what they must do to succeed.