How bad is the crisis in democracy?

Global Democratic Crisis Trends

• The quality of democracy is in decline globally, characterized by a widening gap between citizens and political elites.
• In 2023, approximately 10% fewer people worldwide live in "full democracies" compared to a decade ago.
• Fledgling democracies are increasingly susceptible to the appeal of autocracy, with 46 populist leaders or parties holding power in 33 democratic countries since the 1990s.

France: The Gilets Jaunes and Elite Disconnect

• Trust in the French government stands at 32%, significantly below the global average of 47%, while nearly 70% of the population believes politicians are corrupt.
• The Gilets Jaunes movement, which began in late 2018 as a fuel tax protest, evolved into a broader rebellion against the political class before declining after the tax was abolished.
• The National School for Administration (ENA) is identified as a primary symbol of inequality; only a few percent of its students come from working-class backgrounds.
• President Macron proposed shutting down ENA in April 2019 to address elite alienation, though critics argue this does not solve the deeper issue of hyper-centralization in Paris.
• Despite disillusionment with representation, 83% of French citizens maintain that democracy is the best form of government and reject dictatorship.

United States: Lobbying and the Opioid Crisis

• Trust in the U.S. government to do what is right has plummeted to 17% today, a sharp decrease from 40% in the year 2000.
• Corporate lobbying spending in Washington increased from $1.6 billion in 2000 to $3.5 billion in 2018.
• Of the top 100 lobbying spenders in 2018, 95 organizations represented business interests, often drowning out citizen voices.
• Pharmaceutical companies spent over $4 billion on lobbying and election campaigns since 2000, compared to only $4 million by groups aiming to limit opioid use.
• These lobbying efforts stalled federal responses to the opioid epidemic for years, contributing to an average of 115 opioid-related deaths per day.
• Following the 2016 legislation that targeted opioids, hundreds of thousands of addicts shifted to black-market alternatives like heroin and fentanyl, which now account for approximately 70,000 annual U.S. deaths.
• Donald Trump's election capitalized on dissatisfaction with the political status quo, yet lobbying spending increased by 9% during his presidency despite his "drain the swamp" campaign promises.

Turkey: Autocratic Drift and Electoral Resilience

• Formerly viewed as a democratizer in 2003, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has consolidated power to the point where Turkey is considered one of Europe's least democratic nations.
• Following the failed 2016 military coup, the government cracked down on civil liberties, torturing opponents and imprisoning journalists, including Kadri Gürsel.
• President Erdogan currently retains the support of roughly 50% of the population despite democratic backsliding.
• Opposition candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu won the March 2019 Istanbul mayoral election by a slim margin; after Erdogan demanded a rerun, İmamoğlu won the re-election by a "huge majority."
• Analysts suggest that while the political contest is unfair, the electoral result demonstrates a public dedication to preserving the ballot box as a check on power.

Systemic Failures and Future Outlook

• Democratic decline is frequently attributed to the perception that government is "hollowed out," with institutions losing the capacity to compete with well-funded corporate lobbyists.
• Populist leaders often gain power by exacerbating grievances and highlighting divisions, a strategy that risks strangling democratic institutions rather than destroying them by force.
• Youth movements in non-democratic regions, such as Moscow and Hong Kong, are increasingly recognizing the value of democratic dignity and the need to strive for it.
• Experts emphasize that while the quality of democracy has decreased, the system is not binary; nations can face a crisis of confidence without ceasing to be democracies entirely.