Democracy’s Relevance in the Face of New Global Threats

Democracy as rightly said is “Rule of the people, by the people and for the people”. Thus Democracy is a system of government where the people of the country elect their leaders and representatives with the best hope that they will take decisions which are best for the people at large. But in recent times Democracy’s definition has expanded a lot and is not just limited to the Polity part of it. It has extended its arms in the social, philosophical and environmental and economics part as well. Democracy now includes Fundamental Rights of people to speak, movement, express etc, it also includes equality in resource distribution, Right to life and sustainable livelihood. As said by Abraham Lincoln: “Democracy is one of the most challenging forms of government, both for the people and politicians” is very aptly correct and relevance of Democracy has increased more in the present scenarios in comparison to the past with the new emerging threats. In today’s world with the rising threats of terrorism, globalization, the rise of people against the state, rising integration of the world economies has perplexed the leaders as to how to tackle these threats without harming the democracy. But one should not forget that Democracy is a well tested and proved system to fight all these threats and it should not be sacrificed. Saving people from one and pushing them into another is no solution for the problems. In recent times there has been a tremendous rise in terrorist activities. The difference now with them is that they are meticulously using the public spaces like the internet to spread it. In this regard, many states have called for a strict check on the internet and have asked for censorship on the internet. The Internet has always been an open source of knowledge and a free platform to express one's thoughts and views. This will be an attack on one of the biggest pillar of Democracy that is freedom of speech and expression. In this scenario, it is to be understood that if we resort to such steps then it would be a very bad precedence and ultimately we would move towards autocracy. Another threat to democracy is the rising Globalization and Internationalization and integration of economies. Nowadays the economies are dependent on other countries for their growth and development especially the developing and the underdeveloped countries. Thus it has resulted in the loss of voice of the domestic people. The inclusion of provisions such as International Dispute Settlement Mechanism, International Arbitration, Automatic application of changes in countries law to other countries as well etc is taking away the sovereignty and democracy of countries. The rule in becoming more and more rule by the foreigners than rule by the Nationals. This is a big threat to democracy as it is leading to Modern Imperialism. In this scenario, it is important for countries to assert their democracies in taking decisions related to their future rather than being dictated from outside. In this scenario, India is trying its best by asserting its views and opinions in the international forums and thus is dictating the rules rather than being dictated. Another rising threat to democracy is the Climate Change which has gripped the whole world especially the underdeveloped countries and the Island countries. This has become one of the rising threat to democracy of people living in these countries, they are totally dependent on the rich countries for their support and are facing the brunt of problems in which they had no or minimal role. Nowadays the Climate change is forcing the people to migrate to other countries where the people are not treated well, they have no rights, no source of income and left to perish for life for the deeds they had not done. It is in this scenario that instead of national democracy we should focus on international democracy. We should think migration not as a problem but as a consequence which we will have to meet with democratic principles. Many countries are following just the opposite path of it which has undermined the principles of democracy. We should never forget the statement of Mahatma Gandhi: “ An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind” If we don not stand together and fight with it democratically the day is not far when we will be facing the same consequences in future. Thus we should take it as a democratic responsibility and fight from it collectively that than being in isolation and moving towards autocracy. These were the external threats to democracy but there are also internal threats which are taking birth within the democracy and reducing its relevance in the society. This is similar to the case of Hitler who rose within the democratic system and finally replaced it with an autocratic system. Some of the recent examples are the Rising of democratic coups cases in African countries. For example in Burundi,, Congo, Rwanda the Presidents in order to have an extended term in the office are using the very democratic principles to kill the democracy. In Burundi, the President amended the constitution to have a third term and was met with political instability and a failed military coup. Then the elections were held under the point of violence and he was held victorious. Other examples are that of the Arab springs where people, in order to establish democracy, were using non-democratic means of violence and thus breaking the very foundation of democracy. The result is the political instability in the region. Thus it should be understood that in order to establish democracy the democratic principles should not be buried in the foundation, they should be raised as pillars and walls of the foundation, then only democracy can help us survive. Thus it is in the hard times when democracies relevance is more just like it is in the times of storm when walls and pillars of the house keep the house standing and not the foundation. Another example of the internal threat to democracy can be taken from India. The rising use of Section 124 An against the sedition cases which actually are not sedition but just freedom of expression and speech attacks on democracy. A good democracy is built on the premise of Constructive criticism, freedom of speech and expression and if these are not allowed then democracy will soon become autocracy as it is these pillars of democracy which pull the system back to the line when it goes out. Thus democracy is more relevant in these rising global and local threats which try to kill democracy. Because if democracy is lost in these threats it will set a bad precedence and will over a long period kill democracy. Further, it is rightly said by Winston Churchill: Democracy is not perfect or all wise. But indeed democracy is the worst form of government except for all other forms of government that have been tested or tried.” Thus according to him until today no other form of government is invented that could regulate all the threats better than democracy.