Governing complex economies and societies by consent is hard. Much easier to impose decisions and restrict any capacity by the governed to complain, challenge and protest. The Chinese Communist party’s brutal repression in Hong Kong is driven by that impulse, as is the Singapore government’s recent intensification of its crackdown against dissent. The US Republican party’s approach may be less directly repressive but serves the same end – to gerrymander the voting system to ensure a government that brooks no opposition.
Democracy is in retreat worldwide. Democracies seem weak, unable to get things done, and are captured by big money. A basic precondition for democracy – respect for different opinions – is vanishing in fractious times; adversaries are seen not as part of the same polity but rather abhorrent “others” to be quashed. Next to such “strong men” as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, democratic leaders can seem insipid.
