The hard facts are sobering: According to a new study, the quality of democracy has deteriorated over the past 20 years in 137 countries that are considered developing or emerging economies. According to the Bertelsmann Foundation’s “Transformation Index,” there are now 63 democracies compared to 74 autocracies. In other words, states that tend not to have free elections or a functioning constitutional state.
why is democracy being seen as an end and not a means? isn’t the goal supposed to be to raise the standard of living of people in developing or emerging economies, to reduce income inequality, to combat climate change, and/or to improve support and infrastructure for disadvantaged people and their communities?
in a state with limited political goodwill, why isn’t more effort spent on actually benefiting the people instead of maintaining institutions that evidently degrade the minute attention shifts away from them?
Some countries do not have a culture of democracy. It is partly because of legacy of colonialism destroying the social cohesion of many pre-colonial societies. Some former colonial countries that managed to become democratic and prosperous have strong cohesion from the grassroots. So they are able hold each other accountable. Meanwhile, countries that are less democratic have been more accustomed to top-down rule.