Globally, democracy has become stale – even corrupt

South Africa is not the only country that has, in recent history, found it difficult, troublesome and at times extremely challenging to make a transition to a democratic dispensation. It was at the height of the Cold War, if not mistaken, when Britain’s Winston Churchill – a political colossus at the time – remarked that although democracy is not the perfect political system, it is still the best one he knows.  Does that truth still hold?

For the millions around the world who watched on television as thousands of Germans, on a cold November day in 1989, came together to pull down a  concrete wall that had symbolised the divide between democracy and communism – it was the vindication of  Churchill’s remark.

For a moment in history, it seemed as if democracy would bring freedom to Eastern Europe and the host of newly independent states that made up the former Soviet Union. The jubilation and euphoria soon was replaced by disillusionment and disgust, as organised crime and unscrupulous politicians stepped into the void left by a discredited state-controlled system that regulated life from the cradle to the grave.

The situation may have improved in recent years, but democracy is not yet out of the woods in that part of the world, and the stress and fractures lately inflicted upon the traditional democracies in the West are not helping, either.

There is a growing disenchantment around the globe and the public is fast losing its interest and support for the democratic system.

Democracy has become stale, predictable, uninspiring and perhaps – worst of all – corrupted.

It is no coincidence that the decay comes less than a generation after the end of the Cold War and the demise of the traditional ideologies of left and right. The drive to assert the superiority and longevity of democracy vis-à-vis the stifling repression of the old communist system has disappeared and has been replaced by a mediocrity that is downright depressing.

It may be argued that this was to be expected in the absence of real challenges, but that simply is not true. The challenges of today and tomorrow – because we will, in future, still be confronted with climate change, food security, political and religious fanaticism and overpopulation, to name but a few – demand the ultimate in creativity and commitment.

But, glaringly lacking is inspirational and visionary leadership required to generate energy and vitality necessary to rekindle the enthusiasm and will that is already lost, to face the challenges of the 21st century.

The excitement and expectations when Barrack Obama entered the White House blew like a fresh breeze, not only through the stale and dour American political landscape, but also reached all corners of the globe.

Unfortunately, this excitement and expectations have evaporated and the “Yes, we can” cry has been replaced by a “Yes, we’ll try” whisper.

Obama discovered what others before him also experienced; democracy has become a comfortable vehicle for those seeking an easy ride to self-enrichment. Caught up in a net of long and well-established interests, lobbyists and big business, Obama had to forsake his promise to change fundamentally the way Washington works.

The manner in which politics is conducted in most of the traditional democracies has changed fundamentally. Not only in the United States but also elsewhere. Politics has become a very expensive game and fund-raising has become one of  the main functions of candidates, leaving the door wide open for big business, interest groups and those with the finances to buy influence.

Gone are the days when democracy was considered to be life insurance “for the people, by the people”. It now has become an insurance policy “for the multinational corporations and big business, by the multinational corporations and big business”. So lucrative and effective has it become that the corporations and big businesses are bankrolling all political parties to cover all possible election outcomes and keep the smaller ones quiet and dependent.

If left unchallenged, corruption will signal the end of democracy as we know it. In recent years, corruption has embedded itself in the historical as well as the newly established democracies.

Governments and political parties stumble from one corruption scandal to the next. In Britain, the US, France, Italy, Peru, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya – the list goes on and on.

Small wonder that the public is disillusioned and disheartened.

Corrupt politicians and their accomplices unashamedly will exploit and abuse democracy as cover to gain access to the trough where they and their cohorts can guzzle with gay abandon at government tenders, embezzle government funds and gorge on all the other delicatessen served.

After all, no one joins politics or a freedom struggle to stay poor. The fruits of victory are there to be picked and devoured, even if it is reserved only for the privileged few to show the masses in a perverted way how it should be done and what could be attained under the banner of democracy.

No wonder democracy is under fire.

Perhaps the time has come for all of us to re-read the George Orwell classic.  Animal Farm might have been intended to highlight the inherent fault lines of socialism, but some of those fault lines are applicable also to democracy.

It is not democracy with its warts and all that is at fault. In the absence of a better system, it is required of us – the true and legitimate owners of democracy – to stand up and take back what rightfully belongs to us.

Reform of democratic institutions is no doubt long overdue and we can start by calling those elected to do it on our behalf, to account. The ultimate purpose is to improve the society in which we live, and that is our responsibility.

The common man must never shy away from this responsibility, even if it demands drastic action that may necessitate an overhaul of all the means at our disposal – including democracy in its current besieged condition.