The popular conception after the fall of the Berlin Wall was that we were at the dawn of a new era of democratic revival. While this prediction became a reality in many corners of the world, a recently released report commissioned by Freedom House, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Radio Free Asia highlights the recent attempts by resilient authoritarians to redefine democracy to legitimize their repression. The report concludes that the rise of these “21st century authoritarians” is reinforcing the need for developing strong civil societies within a liberal democratic framework.
This new generation of authoritarians is creating “decorative democracies,” where pre-determined elections allow the state to co-opt the legitimacy of liberty without the substance to support it.At the grassroots, democracy holds little meaning.People are told that they are living in a democracy, but everything around them belies the trappings of fairness and liberty.This result is often achieved by touting economic success, as well as belittling civic institutions and the disaggregated nature of democracy.
Using the latest technology, autocrats can control and block access to information, monitoring their citizens as they attempt to live out the liberty they are told they possess.Rather than being a check on authoritarianism, the media is controlled financially and informationally by the state.The result is usually both a tighter grip on society and an ability to craft particular historical narratives that glorify the regime and demonize its opponents.
Decorative democracies are often notionally capitalist, but in truth the private sector is co-opted and corrupted. Statism gradually weans people and firms off private market forces and replaces them with centralized monetary control. In such a consolidated environment, property becomes mere playing cards in a game of monopoly. Whether termed “gangster capitalism” or “selectively capitalist kleptocracy,” corruption becomes infused in such a system as people line up to pay homage to the new financial kingmakers.
Far from being hermit kingdoms, these decorative democracies do not shy away from reaching out to other states. By purposely building alliances and joining international organizations, they hope to gain a degree of legitimacy and diplomatic cover. Procedural tools gained or co-opted, like veto powers, can be used to undermine an international organization’s utility and consensus. Economic ties and foreign aid exchange also serve as effective means of soft power, on the one hand hindering democratic governance and on the other supporting their own economic sustainability.
With autocratic leaders becoming more sophisticated at redefining democracy and fortifying their regimes, what reasons are there for optimism? While their calls for mulipolarity come with an air of legitimacy, fundamentally non-democratic states have a difficult time operating in an international system based on the rule of law and transparency. Additionally, their very invocation of the term “democracy” highlights the continued power and legitimacy of democratic ideals and institutions. The greatest response to decorative democracy lies in nurturing local civil societies from the ground up, laying the foundation for institutions responsive to the voice of reform. CIPE helps local private sector organizations across the globe to institutionalize the democratic process – supporting the very characteristics that set true democracies apart from the merely decorative ones.
Published Date: July 09, 2009