Exploring the slow dismantling of democracies through tactics like intimidation, travel bans, and fear tactics used globally. Discussion on India's political climate, Mexico's INE independence, and politicizing institutions for political gain in Poland. Showcases how autocratic playbooks from Mexico, Turkey, India, and Poland follow similar patterns.
Democracies are slowly dismantled by subtle tactics like biased media coverage and restricted travel bans.
Political leaders worldwide utilize similar strategies to consolidate power and undermine political adversaries, hindering democracy's integrity.
Deep dives
The Gradual Undermining of Democracies
Around 4 billion people are set to vote in elections in 64 countries in 2024, but the question arises: How many of these elections are truly free and fair? Democracy goes beyond voting; it includes a system of rules, habits, and norms that encompass the judicial system and the media. Leaders often employ subtle tactics to consolidate power, intimidating opponents, orchestrating biased media coverage, changing judges, and restricting travel. The erosion of democratic norms includes strategies such as 'civil death,' where citizens face travel bans without official notification or deny access to essential provisions based on their political loyalty. These tactics, along with manipulating referendums and using technology to manipulate information, contribute to the gradual decline of democracy.
The Playbook of Consolidating Power
Political leaders worldwide utilize a playbook to consolidate their power, often without attracting international attention. For opposition members and critics, major obstacles hinder their ability to live a normal life. Governments use tactics like investigating social media posts, imposing travel bans, and terminating employment to instill fear and exert control. Smearing opponents' credibility and questioning their integrity, including accusations of corruption, further their attempts to undermine political adversaries. Democracies face challenges of controlling their courts and electoral bodies, with attempts to curb the independence of institutions responsible for overseeing elections. Nonetheless, recent elections in Poland and Pakistan have shown that democracy can rebound and institutions can be restored despite systematic erosion.
The Power of Elections and Popular Votes
Elections, despite efforts to control them, still possess the potential for surprises. Elections that are controlled are easy to manipulate, but leaders often attempt a balancing act, striving to appear genuine while undermining the process in subtle ways. Efforts to control elections include making voting difficult in urban areas or introducing legislation to reshape independent institutions overseeing elections. Opposition movements still have the ability to mobilize supporters and achieve significant results, as seen in the case of opposition parties winning seats in the national assembly in Pakistan. Elections continue to be an unpredictable tool that both leaders and citizens use to shape the democratic landscape.
Democracies do not die in military coups. They are dismantled slowly, by libel laws, through tax audits, and procedure. Democracies are dismantled by bureaucrats and judges, not by soldiers and heavy-handed policing. It has always been thus, from ancient Rome to present-day Tunisia. The program outlines the tricks of the trade that imperceptibly kill democracies – and how examples in Mexico, Turkey, India and Poland illustrate that the autocratic playbook is nearly always the same. With Anne Applebaum, historian and staff writer at The Atlantic, Amy Slipowitz, research manager at Freedom House, Greta Rios, co-executive director, People Power, David Runciman, professor of politics at the University of Cambridge, Professor Larry Diamond, Stanford University, Jennifer Gandhi, professor of political science and global affairs, Yale University, Renata Uitz, professor of law and government at Royal Holloway, The University of London.
Presenter: Matt Qvortrup
Producer: Bob Howard
Editor: Clare Fordham
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