Why we should not take democracy for granted – 1

Ashraf Engineer

August 2, 2025

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Hello and welcome to All Indians Matter. I am Ashraf Engineer.

I have said often on this podcast that democracy is in trouble. It is seen to be failing people and trust in it is plummeting. And there seems to be empirical proof of it. A Pew Research Center survey published in March last year found that people in many countries are dissatisfied with democracy and want overhauls of their political systems.

The study spoke to more than 30,000 respondents in 24 countries. When asked “what do you think would help improve the way democracy in your country is working?”, the top answer was: democracy can be improved with better or different politicians. It’s an answer we in India would resonate with too.

People across the world want politicians who are more competent, honest and responsive to their needs.

And what would fix things? Respondents said it’s up to citizens to improve their democracy. This is powerful and this is the key. Across most of the countries surveyed, issues of public participation and of different behaviour from people themselves were a top-five priority.

Other solutions that came up included economic reforms, especially those that would enhance job creation; government reform, including term limits; and adjusting the balance of power between institutions.

It’s with all this in mind that All Indians Matter launches a three-part series on why democracy is in trouble, what can be done about it and why we should not take democracy for granted.

SIGNATURE TUNE

Let’s go back in time a little

As the Soviet Union imploded in the early 1990s, the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – tasted freedom again. Churches closed by the Soviets reopened, political leaders wanted their countries to become part of the free world’s international organisations, and be part of the growing club of democracies. It seemed then that democracy was the future and authoritarianism a thing of the past.

Cut to today. How different the world is. It is dominated by authoritarians like Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi. Each one of them makes a show of worshipping at the altar of democracy but acts in the exact opposite way.

So, democracy faces serious risks although it has proven over time to be durable.

According to a Freedom House report, 2022 was the 17th consecutive year in which more countries declined in freedom rather than gained. And these span the world, not just a region:

  • Tunisia, the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring, was turning into a dictatorship
  • In Bangladesh, Hungary and Turkey, elections were getting less democratic. Like in India, the phenomenon of ‘elected autocracies’ was getting stronger. These are countries where strongmen use elections to take power and then begin eroding the democracy that got them elected. For example, in India, there is an significant erosion of press freedoms and minority rights.
  • In Algeria, Belarus, Ethiopia, Sudan and Zimbabwe, anti-democratic regimes were holding on to power
  • Israel, a rare democracy in the Middle East, is attempting to rein in judicial independence, which is an important check on the power of the executive

How is this happening? At least in part it is because authoritarians have successfully argued that the systems that existed before them left out many from the prosperity democracy and globalisation promised. There was too much inefficiency in governments that listened to various points of view and what was needed now was firm central control – which only the authoritarian could provide. Democracy, they implied, was messy, slow and ineffective.

What was conveniently ignored was that democracy was supposed to be messy and argumentative. It’s what free thought and protection of rights is about – it’s a feature, not a bug. Therefore, the institutions that guarantee those rights must be protected, not captured.

Of course democracy has its failings – for example, something urgently needs to be done about income inequalities. But we must realise that democracy is not automatic, that it can’t be taken for granted. It needs nurturing and preserving.

So many of us in India lament the retreat of freedoms but it does us no good to hope that someone else will protect our democracy. Above all, it’s our responsibility.

So, what can we as citizens do? Here are a few ideas:

  • Be better informed. So many of us simply don’t understand what is going on and have poor awareness of our situation. You can’t be effective citizens unless you are armed with knowledge. Seek out legitimate news, filter out lies, propaganda and disinformation. This is easier said than done in an era filled with sources that distort the news. To be truly informed, read widely
  • Get involved. Our usual response is to stay on the sidelines and complain. It’s not good enough anymore. Get involved in causes, speak out, hold our elected representatives responsible
  • Remain civil. So many countries, especially India, seem hopelessly divided. There is no civil dialogue between opposing sides, leave alone the attempt to find a middle ground. That must change. We need more civil engagement. That means behaviour that’s right even when you can get away with being the opposite
  • Promote the common good. Ask what’s needed for the nation as a whole rather than one community or social group. That’s what we should work towards
  • Listen, don’t just talk. Listen even to those you disagree with, so you can understand them and find a bridge to each other. Not everyone with views opposed to yours is evil

Now, back to the Pew study.

In almost every country, people broadly called for three types of improvements: better representation, increased competence and a higher level of responsiveness. They also wanted politicians to be less corrupt or less influenced by special interests.

Diversity is important – something authoritarians hate. People wanted to see politicians from different groups. In Japan, for example, a woman said democracy would improve if there were “more diversity and more women parliamentarians”. In Kenya, having leaders “from all tribes” was seen as a way to make democracy work better.

Responsiveness was a key factor. People wanted their politicians to respond to their needs and to keep their promises. A man in the UK said: “If leaders would listen more to the local communities and do their jobs as Members of Parliament, that would really help democracy in this country. It seems like once they’re elected, they just pay lip service to the role.”

There were many calls for systemic reform – that is, the political system needs to change for democracy to work better. These reforms included adjusting the balance of power between institutions, implementing term limits and reforming the electoral system. Aside from the Pew study, this is an area of particular concern in India – there have been many doubts raised about the role the Election Commission has played in the erosion of our democracy.

In general, the Pew study respondents said citizens need to participate more in democracy. This could mean being more involved in politics – from simply turning out to vote every time to being part of protests at key junctures. If people participate, there is less apathy and their voices will be heard. A woman in Sweden said: “I would like to see more involvement from different groups of people: younger people, people with different backgrounds, people from minority groups.”

I want to spend a moment on economic reforms too.

People in mostly the middle-income nations surveyed – such as Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia and others – emphasised on economic reform as a way to strengthen democracy. These include a strong focus on job creation, curbing inflation and changing government spending priorities.

Some even drew a causal link between the economy and democracy, suggesting that improvements to the former would improve the latter. Naturally, having basic needs met is a precursor to democratic functioning. A starving person doesn’t have the mindspace to think about institutions, democratic debate and freedoms.

That’s why improvements to infrastructure like roads, hospitals, water, electricity and schools were the second-most mentioned topic in Brazil, India, Nigeria and South Africa. Healthcare registered strongly too.

Amid all this, there was a lot of cynicism too. Many respondents said there were no changes that could make democracy work better. Many made statements like: “Our current system is broken and I’m not sure what, if anything, can fix it at this point.” Others said that “no matter what I do, nothing will change”.  Many see no better options.

In the episodes to come I will try to explore how we got here, to this seemingly hopeless position and what we as citizens can do. I will argue that there is hope, because we can’t afford to think otherwise.

Thank you all for listening. Please visit allindiansmatter.in for more columns and audio podcasts. You can follow me on Twitter at @AshrafEngineer and @AllIndiansCount. Search for the All Indians Matter page on Facebook. On Instagram, the handle is @AllIndiansMatter. Email me at editor@allindiansmatter.in. Catch you again soon.