Daily Times

The revolutionary icon Che Guevera once said, “Democracy cannot consist solely of elections that are nearly always fictitious and managed by rich landowners and professional politicians.” Historically, many countries including Pakistan have suffered this fate. In a familiar pattern, political leaders use elections to buy the votes of a poor and submissive citizenry. Elections serve as pointless window-dressing, damaging governance and bolstering autocratic rule. In these circumstances, the best a country can hope for is a ‘managed democracy’ where the public is shepherded, not sovereign — and corrupt elites are keen to keep them that way. Countries considered not good enough for genuine democracy are often lectured that a managed democracy is clearly superior to old-fashioned dictatorship.

Generally speaking, a guided system controls society while providing the appearance of democracy. Its main characteristics are a strong centre and weak institutions. The control over elections allows elites to legitimise their decisions. The system encourages graft and corruption, which is the corrosive effect of ‘crony’ capitalism. It gives a semblance of stability but lacks strategic vision and is highly dysfunctional. It exhibits short-term effectiveness and long-term inefficiency. Obedience is the first measure of performance and that creates perverse incentives. For example, regional governments have an incentive to obey the centre, but no incentive to make their regions successful.

Moreover, managed democracies are averse to a strong civil society and a free media. The powerful manipulate routine differences between communities, ethnic groups and social classes. When that happens in a country under controlled rule, the entire public sphere is transformed into a zero-sum game between those wielding near-absolute power and those whose basic rights are in jeopardy.

In contrast, a healthy and resilient genuine democracy emerges with decentralisation and federalism. This requires meaningful elections to strengthen civil society. In turn, a vibrant civil society exercises sustained pressure to ensure the accountability of the elected leadership. In this scenario, over time responsible and clean political parties try to unite the whole society and maximise the interests for all citizens, rather than serving only the interests of certain groups and regions. This system allows majority rule to proceed but protects minority interests. Moreover, citizens themselves learn to exercise power at the local level.

Democracy is also consolidated in large part by socially inclusive growth. This growth generates widely shared benefits for a broader cross-section of citizens. Governments manage the delicate balance of unleashing new talent and investment through anti-inflationary, anti-monopoly economic reforms, while simultaneously increasing social spending on the poor and middle class. This approach marks a shift from earlier decades when the government did little to provide material opportunities for the most vulnerable groups, even as political participation began to expand. In many countries, the economic and social policies were exclusionary, benefiting domestic elites at the expense of the general populace.

People expect poverty alleviation, reduction in inequality and, eventually, fundamental socioeconomic change in return for their participation in the political process. Democracies have to deliver better for the disadvantaged if they hope to avoid discontent and unrest. When democracies fail to deliver on material expectations, by contrast, they can become breeding grounds for strongmen. To dissatisfied and excluded constituencies, a promise to fight against the rich can have sudden allure. It can lead to a vicious coup-election-coup cycle and the widening political divide among the regions.

Achieving both macroeconomic stability and inclusive growth is usually a tough feat for democratic governments. Expectations are high; people are impatient. So identifying reforms that can immediately improve people’s lives without deepening unsustainable economic policies in the longer term is critical. Economic incentives can also play a vital role in creating shared opportunity by enabling struggling families to invest in health and education, simultaneously cushioning the hardships of the present and laying the foundation for future economic prosperity by developing human capital.

For citizens to believe in it, a democracy needs to show its citizens that it can protect their core rights and establish fair economic and political rules. If people believe that legal systems and public institutions work for them, rather than against them, it gives them a stake in the system and a greater willingness to tolerate the inevitable turbulence of a transition. Government institutions must treat citizens fairly, and with dignity, while responding to their needs. An effective, transparent, and predictable legal system also prevents well-connected insiders from amassing wealth and public assets through shady backroom deals.

Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. We must remember that democracy works when given time to develop, mature and deliver. It can be a difficult and complicated process. There are elections to hold, politics to create, rights to assert, grievances to settle and institutions to build. To many, it’s exhilarating. For others, it can be disappointing when it turns out that democracy does not immediately make life better. When there is no sharing of power, no rule of law, no accountability, there is abuse, corruption, subjugation and indignation.

The writer can be reached at shgcci@gmail.com