The book--How Democracies Die--, written by Harvard Professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, explains what makes democracy work and how many democratic states have seen their elected leaders turn authoritarian. The book outlines four key indicators of authoritarian behavior: (a) Rejection of or weak commitment to democratic rules of the game, such as restricting rights; (b) Denial of the legitimacy of political opponents (claiming rivals as national security threats and foreign agents); (c) Toleration or encouragement of violence; and (d) Readiness to curtail liberties of opponents, including the media.
Even in a country with seven decades of democracy like Nepal, we have seen prominent leaders repeatedly accusing others of being foreign agents and traitors in their public statements. This idea has also been prominently seen in the United States, especially during the Tea Party movement, which the book considers the beginning of a seismic shift in American politics. Nepal is a country of free speech, and we have many investigative journalists, which has helped check politicians, unlike the biased media in the United States, making people question the legitimacy of the information they receive. The book describes this phenomenon as turning a watchdog into a lapdog. Similar trends have been seen in neighboring countries, regarded as pathways for eroding democratic values.
Democracies are better at managing crises
In the world of social media and technology, we have seen polarization among people according to political parties or even leaders, fueled by the increasing trend of misinformation and disinformation. Although some level of polarization is healthy, people tend to divide not just based on policy differences but on deeper sources of factionalism and resentment. The great thing about Nepali society is that social cohesion and tolerance are innate in its values. However, constant practice and realization are needed to preserve this strong feature of Nepali society.
The book argues that democracy works best and survives the longest in countries where written constitutions are reinforced by their own unwritten rules of the game. It focuses on two norms that stand out as fundamental to a functioning democracy: Mutual Toleration and Institutional Forbearance, which we often take for granted. In Nepal, we have sustained mutual toleration for many years, perhaps because we understand this norm or because there has always been coalition governments rather than absolute majorities, and political parties need to switch coalitions to remain in power. The norm of institutional forbearance is a tradition older than democracy, which helps in checks and balances and gives way to deadlocks and dysfunction in the system.
The book suggests that it was not the United States’ constitution itself that made the American political system work, but rather the usage of unwritten rules, which is the foundation of its much-admired system of checks and balances. However, it argues that this system, believed to be exceptional, is highly vulnerable to anti-democratic leaders, considering the past decade. The book gives the case of Chile, Russia, Venezuela, Germany, and others, where leaders rose from democratic processes and then systematically neglected and discarded these foundations and procedural principles of democracy, turning their countries into authoritarian regimes.
Some instances and trends of political influence in judiciary and constitutional appointments in Nepal can be seen as enabling the government to favor its own interests while disregarding the core objective intention. However, the judiciary of Nepal has proved to support democratic values and the protection of the constitution, as seen in the case of the untimely and illegal dissolution of parliament twice during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Democracy in the present time can be wracked by a domestic crisis of confidence. However, the book gives a positive hope that no single political leader can end a democracy, nor can a single leader rescue it, indicating the role of citizens in recognizing authoritarian behavior and preserving the norms. Democracy is a shared enterprise, and its fate depends on all of us. Despite its imperfections, as E.B. White rightly said, democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people, or at least the majority, are right more than half or the majority of the time. The fact that Nepal is thriving and progressing in terms of intact democratic values in society is due to the realization of the expense of its absence, not only in political parties but also in civil societies and the general public. It is the duty of all to preserve and strengthen these democratic norms and to extend them throughout the diverse societies we have.
