Democracy to Chaos: Chaos to Anarchy

Freedom, justice, social justice, and a secure, better life are basic human rights. Since ancient times, every society and state has been built around these rights. From caves to modern societies, people have been drawn by the promise of these rights. To satisfy these rights, humans have long devised systems to deliver on them. Over time, they have experimented with different systems and continue to do so. However, since the 20^th century, liberal democracy has been widely adopted and practiced around the world. Western countries, experts, and philosophers have presented it as the best system. They even raised the slogan of the end of history on the shoulders of liberal democracy.

Liberal democracy was sold as a system founded on the slogan “government of the people, for the people, and by the people.” It was supported by liberal values and by governance, economic, and diplomatic systems. Constitutions were constructed to run democratic states. However, liberal democracy has certain structural flaws that have largely been ignored or sold as the beauty of the system. This strategy could not hold for long, and its flaws eventually became apparent.

First, in liberal democracy, the success of the opposition depends on the government’s failure, or the success of one party depends on the failure of others. Thus, the opposition does everything to destabilize, undermine, or distract the government. It does not let the government deliver. To ensure the government’s failure, the opposition resorts to agitation, protests, and marches. A government that came to power to serve the people becomes preoccupied with the opposition, rather than taking action to solve the people’s problems. The government cannot devote much time to the country’s development and the welfare of its people. Moreover, the government gets involved in settling scores with the opposition and tries to weaken or eliminate it. When the opposition comes to power, the same pattern continues. Thus, working for the people is lost somewhere.

However, it is interesting that both the opposition and the government fight in the name of the people while ignoring them. In their fight, they put people on the back burner. This happens in almost all democracies around the world. Pakistan has also been witnessing this phenomenon for many years.

Second, democracy has become a tool of divide-and-rule. Political parties deploy it perfectly, and people get trapped without even realizing it. They divide people in the name of ideology, ethnicity, language, and sub-national identity, and sell them dreams. They lure people with visions of better days and create an illusion by painting a fanciful picture of the future. They use ethnicity or sub-national identity to play on people’s emotions. They paint other sub-nationalities or ethnicities as exploiters and promise to protect their rights at any cost. Some sharp minds target marginalized communities, raise slogans about their welfare, and fight for their rights. They engage people for their own benefit. Religion, or a religious touch, is another tool they use to fool people and attract the masses.

In this way, they create followers, and in some cases, blind followers, which leads to the formation of a cult. Followers blindly follow leaders and approve of every move and every saying. Cult-based followers consider their leaders immune to mistakes or human weakness. They think their leaders have the best minds and the wisdom to consider everything and every matter. Thus, they do not allow anyone to differ from their leadership; if someone differs, they are an opponent, not an enemy. This creates sharp division in society, and political parties thrive on this division. They exploit it for their benefit by maintaining the illusion. Ultimately, society suffers from this division, as leaders use it to rule the people and exploit the system in their favor.

It is happening everywhere. The most prominent example in developed countries is the MAGA group in America. President Trump formed this group and won the presidential election. However, after winning the election, he largely ignored the needs of the MAGA group. Regrettably, the divide is deepening in American society. According to the Institute of Family Studies, the share of politically mixed marriages is declining (21% politically mixed marriages). The divide is even deeper among followers of Democrats and Republicans (4% politically mixed marriages). Europe is experiencing a wave of strong anti-Muslim and anti-migration sentiments. It has deeply divided the countries. In our neighborhood, India is implementing the worst anti-Muslim policies and has deeply divided society along religious lines.

Third, the liberal electoral system has its own shortcomings. It was presented as a tool to ensure inclusivity and give everyone an equal opportunity to participate in decision-making and implementation. However, over time, it has become exclusionary. People with money have become dominant players. Money shapes candidates’ futures; therefore, candidates spend generously. For example, during the 2020 election cycle in the USA, political parties, donors, and candidates spent more than US $14.4 billion. Presidential candidates alone spent US$6.6 billion. The role of money is so strong that ordinary people cannot think of being part of the game, except to vote. They are used only as pawns to secure the king’s interests. Industrialists and business tycoons have gained immense importance in the election process and in determining the future of politics and government. They fund their favorite candidates, who can tweak policies to suit their interests.

Besides, political parties resort to slurs and degrade opponents. They do not hesitate to demean other parties’ workers and voters. Now, social media has added new dimensions to such campaigns. Political parties do not spare opponents’ families and unleash their supporters to abuse and disrespect them. Moreover, in less developed countries, caste, ethnicity, class, and dynasties also play a role. Political parties try to select a dominant class or ethnicity to contest elections.

Unfortunately, they often overlook merit, character, and capability. Money, class, caste, and ethnicity matter. Above all, loyalty to leadership or proximity to powerful circles matters.

Fourth, every political party contests elections with different ideologies. As a result, every winning party seeks to implement policies aligned with its ideology. This leads to frequent policy changes, which negatively affect the economy, defense, and diplomacy.

Fifth, accountability, a fundamental pillar of democracy, has become a joke in liberal democracy. The ruling elite has rendered it useless. Governments mostly use it to control or settle scores with the opposition. Political elites contest accountability and evade it in the name of political victimization. Ruling elites also manipulate accountability to suit their convenience and avoid it.

Unfortunately, we can find all these ills in Pakistani democracy. Political parties have successfully divided the nation. They have built their cults and snub dissenting voices. People are not allowed to disagree with party leaders or policies. If someone makes the mistake of disagreeing, they will face the wrath of those parties’ followers. They will unleash hell on you. In this way, political parties have effectively killed space for dialogue and differing opinions. They have turned the nation into a human herd in the name of self-assumed righteousness.

From the above, we can infer that these structural flaws have made liberal democracy a source of problems. Sharp division, cult formation, struggles to bring others down, agitation, protests, etc., are a perfect recipe for chaos. If not dealt with in a timely and wise manner, chaos can lead to anarchy. For example, after losing the election in 2020, President Trump and the MAGA group resorted to violent protests and agitation. They brought Washington, D.C., the capital of the USA, to the brink of anarchy, and the USA had to mobilize all resources to neutralize it. In our neighborhood, India is also experiencing chaos. Protests are erupting every other day. Unfortunately, the Indian government is adding fuel to the fire with its actions, and it is feared that chaos could lead to anarchy at any time.

The most unfortunate part of the story is that liberal democracy can even lead to genocide. Michael Mann’s book Dark Side of Democracy: Explaining Ethnic Cleansing can help us better understand the phenomenon of division and its impact on society.

In this context, there is a need for a system that can address these structural flaws and ensure inclusivity, justice, and better living conditions for the people. Merit, character, and accountability should be fundamental principles and observed in their true spirit. Islam presented such a model, but unfortunately, it is not practiced anywhere in the world. In the contemporary world, the Chinese model of Whole Process People’s Democracy can be explored for guidance.

Pakistan needs it more than any other country, as liberal democracy has turned Pakistan into a home of multiple problems. If people want to escape these problems, they must break the trap of division. There is no room for failure, because if people fail to introduce a new system, the political elite (it does not matter who is in power) will continue to exploit people. It will be a difficult task, as the political elite has mastered the art of divide and rule. At the same time, the ruling elite must realize that continuing this system will create chaos. Thus, they should resist it or insist on it.