Notre Dame faculty educate on global decline of democracies

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On Wednesday, Notre Dame faculty gathered at the Hesburgh Center Auditorium to provide insights on global election results and their implications for democracy in key regions around the world, including Asia, Latin America, the United States, Europe and Africa. The lecture is part of a larger series sponsored by the Notre Dame Democracy Initiative.

The discussion featured six faculty members who are experts on the state of democracy in different regions of the world. Mary Gallagher, a specialist on China and the newly appointed dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs, moderated the event.

The consensus among the experts was that democracy today is declining. However, this was still a pivotal year for democracies, with over 70 countries engaging in elections — more than half of the world.

Europe

Assistant professor of democracy and global affairs Marc Jacob noted that political polarization in Europe differs from that of the U.S. because Europe, unlike the U.S., is not predominantly composed of two-party systems. He mentioned that across Europe incumbents are struggling, especially as a result of economic turmoil.

“Parties are having a hard time justifying to voters why the economy is the way it is,” he said.

To succeed in Europe, Jacobs noted that parties must adopt moderate positions, as authoritarianism has proven ineffective. Additionally, a key issue in recent years was lack of distinct policy agendas from major parties, leading to voter frustration. Voters today seem to want a broad range of policy options. This is seen in countries like Hungary and Poland, where new splinter parties are emerging that offer voters more choices, Jacobs said.

Latin America

Professor of political science Scott Mainwaring made it clear that the future of democracy in Latin America varies significantly by country.

“There are 20 countries, including three high-level democracies whose liberal democracy scores are pretty close to that of the United States — Costa Rica, Uruguay and Chile — and then there are three of the most brutal authoritarian regimes on the planet — Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela,” he said.

Despite the diversity of political systems in the region, it was a pivotal year for elections in Latin America, with Mexico electing its first female president and the opposition in Venezuela briefly gaining power before being ousted by the 11-year-old Maduro regime.

As seen in Venezuela, many countries in the region have experienced significant setbacks, a phenomenon Mainwaring described as “democratic stagnation with big democratic deficits.”

While poverty has decreased in many Latin American countries, largely due to the rise of globalization, entrenched authoritarian leaders and organized crime continue to undermine progress, he explained.

He also said that proponents of authoritarian regimes in Latin America, such as those in Venezuela and Nicaragua, often justify their positions with rhetoric about being “against the West and for the people,” even as these regimes similarly repress their citizens, as exemplified by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.

Mainwaring emphasized the complex and often contradictory nature of democracy in the region, where progress in some areas is offset by the persistence of authoritarian practices in others.

United States

Professor of africana studies and political science Dianne Pinderhughes gave her opinion of president-elect Donald Trump and his impact on a national and global level. She commented that while he did better than before, it was far from a historic success. While he was the first Republican to win the popular vote in two decades, he won by around 1.5% of the vote, a margin of victory smaller than any U.S. presidential election in over 50 years. Pinderhughes viewed this as a crucial statistic to consider when looking at the direction of U.S. politics.

“Democracy is not what this president is interested in,” she said.

But what would a decline in democracy mean for the United States? Associate professor of political science Victoria Hui believed that if the United States lost democracy, it would also lose its dominance across the world.

“For the U.S. to maintain hegemony, it must maintain democracy,” Pinderhughes said.

Africa

Democracy in Africa was spoken of in terms of the aftereffects of colonialism on the continent. This was because, as assistant professor of africana studies Bernard Forjwuor put it, “colonialism dictated democracy.”

Forjwuor highlighted that most people on the continent are not asking for the rejection of democracy, as there was a strong democratic tradition in Africa prior to the first colonial efforts. What many disliked, however, was the way democratic states have opened space for capitalist exploitation in Africa. In many ways, democracy made the people of the African continent vulnerable.

Even still, Forjwuor believed that there was a path forward and that African states have the chance to redefine what democracy means to them.

“In order to judge whether democracy is consolidated in places in Africa, we need to uplift the voices of Africans themselves. Bring the people into the political structure,” he said.

Asia

Hui highlighted that China is the largest trading partner for many U.S. allies and creates a complicated situation for the Western world in which the push for democracy comes into conflict with economic efforts.

China is not the only country in Asia that has faced political unrest. Hui also expressed her shock over South Korea’s recent declaration of martial law, initiated by President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday and quickly reversed by South Korea’s parliament.

“We thought South Korea was a stable democracy,” Hui said. “Japan, South Korea and Taiwan come to mind when you think about stable democracies. If it could happen in South Korea, where else could this happen?”

Hui called on people to pay closer attention to the world around them and remember the very real challenges many face. She encouraged students and activists to seek knowledge about global political realities.

“What media can do and what people outside can do is go find knowledge about what is going on around the world,“ Hui said.“This is what you as Notre Dame students can do to help promote and defend democracy.”

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