Examples Of Threats To Democracy

There are many threats to democracy in modern societies; these threats however, differ depending on the type of democracy implemented and the nature of the society, for example; the democracies of the developing world are confronted with different threats when compared to the threats faced by the democracies of the developed world. This paper will seek to provide an examination of the main adversities to democracies mainly in the developing world. To gain a general idea, it is necessary to look at the conditions conducive for democratization so that we can fully comprehend the many obstacles that modern societies are faced with.

Democracy is not a natural order; this is stated by Pinkney in 1993. Throughout history most rulers were instilled without the consent of the citizens, such rulers were born into a monarchy or they were voted in by ruling elites. The factors that allowed for the establishment and maintenance of democracy in the west were different to those needed by the developing world; there are a few exceptions however.

The west had already formulated a very stable economic and social structure, which are essential conditions for the development and advancement of long-term democracies.

Based on this it is evident that in order for the world to flourish under a democratic type system there are several crucial requirements that are required to be met. One of the main perquisites that are conducive to the formation of a democratic state is the constant need for continual economic development; therefore it is evident that a lack of economic development in a particular country will pose a major threat to the prevalence and advancement of democratic ideologies in that country.

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Economic development is an idea supported by Lipset (1959).

Threats To Democracy Today

Economic development is considered one of the main necessities needed to guide a state into democracy. Lipset believes that ‘the correlation between the existence of democracy and such variables as per capita wealth, industrialization, urbanization and the level of education’, are causes of democracy. This underlines and demonstrates the insurmountable obstacles faced by many parts of the world, most notably the developing world in terms of maintaining and encouraging democratic influences.

Poverty and unemployment are rife throughout the developing world and therefore the ever-rising unemployment levels coupled with exponential population growth is crippling the economies of many nations which is rendering these nations susceptible to adhering to the conditions necessary for the instilment of other forms of political governance which obviously, poses a threat to existing and potential democratic prevalence and advancement throughout modern society.

Social structure is another factor that is hindering democratic advancement and instilment amongst modern day societies; this is particularly a problem throughout the developing world and most notably Africa. The predominant issue with this idea in terms of the developing world is that many developing nations after decolonization were left socially and religiously divided.

This is just one of the many burdens left behind by the colonizers that has rendered the many societies and tribes of Africa liable to the prevalence of unfair and unjust rule as well as racial and other forms of discriminatory action which has left many ethnic minorities having the arduous task of attempting to rule and unite conflicting tribal, cultural and religious groups. For example, within each state of Africa it is possible to see a number of tribes or mixtures of Christianity and Islam, where they were all put together to live as one by colonial powers.

This has left many ethnic minorities thus making the job of ruling fairly, extremely difficult. Democracy is more likely to come about from a society where, for example, the monarchy checks the nobility and the aristocracy goes into commerce. (Pinkney, 1993). We can see this in states that have conventionally had monarchs or upper class forced hierarchy ruling, such rulers are more prone to alter the political requirements of a democracy once the totalitarian regime has been lifted.

From the arguments gathered above, it is easy to see the most prominent threats to democracy that are currently facing modern societies. The necessities needed to attain democratic rule portray how far some states are from acquiring and implementing a democratic status. It is evident that economic development is the main threat that is preventing many nations from adhering to the criteria necessary to implement and obtain democratic systems.

The other factor that is hindering the advancement of democratic systems is the complex social structure of many developing nations due to the effects of colonization. The divisions and creation of isolated ethnic minorities caused by the colonization and decolonisation processes has made it extremely difficult for democracy to achieve fair and equal ruling that would be so beneficial for the many social groups within a society.