International | Democracy is no longer contagious

What do China and Qatar have in common?

Frédéric Merand
Professor of political science and scientific director of the Center for International Studies and Research of the University of Montreal

Jennifer welsh
Canada 150 Research Chair and Director of the Center for International Peace and Security Studies at McGill University

Yes, these countries will host the two main events of the year 2022, the Winter Olympics and the Soccer World Cup. They are also two authoritarian regimes where the right to vote is non-existent, opinion tightly controlled, fundamental freedoms very limited and certain groups oppressed. Unsurprisingly, their sporting influence arouses calls for boycott. Following the United States, Canada has announced its intention not to send its dignitaries to Beijing.

Since the end of the Cold War, we have lived under the illusion that democracy constitutes an insurmountable horizon of human experience and that it will end up infecting everyone.

China and Qatar, however, are far from isolated cases. According to the Democracies Index developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit, 55% of the countries in the world, comprising 51% of the population, can be qualified as authoritarian regimes (without electoral competition) or “hybrid” (practicing electoral fraud and political repression). However, the center of gravity of the planet is moving in their direction.

The world in democratic recession

Conversely, only 14% of countries, comprising less than 9% of the world’s population, are full democracies. A democracy, the political scientist Sidney Verba reminds us, is based on two forms of equality: an equal political voice, through universal suffrage, freedom of expression, of association and of the press; equal consideration of the interests of citizens. This latter form of equality presupposes the rule of law and widespread trust in political institutions.

Such a definition is demanding: since 2016, the United States has been considered as an “imperfect” democracy, like Italy, Mexico and 31% of the countries of the world. More or less honest and transparent elections are held there, but in a political context degraded by corruption and intolerance. More and more countries fall into this category.

There are several classifications of political regimes. All nevertheless indicate the same tendency: democracy, already in the minority on a global scale, has been retreating significantly over the past decade. We are living in a democratic recession.

The club of democracies, a false good idea

This is to say that the challenge that Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau have given themselves, the first by convening a virtual summit for democracy, the second by vigorously promoting democracy. Faced with China and Russia, but also with old democracies like India which are now approaching the hybrid model, democratic governments certainly have an interest in showing solidarity.

Unfortunately, the Summit for Democracy of December 9 and 10 showed the limits of such an exercise: either we are only talking about a small circle of exemplary democracies but, it must be said, especially Western ones; either we invite, as the American president has done, 110 countries, including the “democratic” Republic of Congo (ranked in 166^e rank out of 167 according to the Democracies Index).

Although many leaders have used the platform offered by Biden to formulate commitments to strengthen their democracies, for now, the summit’s main achievement has been to draw the ire of a China presenting itself as the cradle of a “popular” democracy.

In any case, the most pressing world problems cannot be solved by a “club”, whatever its identity or the feeling of its moral superiority.

From climate change to the taxation of multinationals, from the delicate situation in Taiwan to that in Ukraine, from the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan to the civil war in Ethiopia, from the management of the pandemic to international trade, diplomacy demands cooperation international which cannot make democratic affinities a precondition.

What to do ?

Contrary to what US President Woodrow Wilson wanted a century ago, the world has never become “democracy safe”. It would be naive to behave on the international scene as if such an ideal were within reach.

But the post-democratic world is not inevitable either. As we have seen tragically this year in Hong Kong or Minsk, democracy retains its power of seduction and mobilization. It is also progressing in certain countries such as Taiwan and Chile. How to encourage it?

While the idea of ​​bayonet-style democracy seems out of fashion since the failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, Canada – working with new partners as well as traditional allies – can do even more to support the strengthening of representative and judicial institutions, fundamental rights, inclusive political participation, press freedom and good governance wherever the demand is expressed. Organizations like the Parliamentary Center, practices like election observation and the dissemination of free and independent information contribute to this.

The “club” mentality, on the other hand, much less.