Minority vs majority

Historically, Western countries have adopted the role of international teachers of democracy. The reason is not that, according to the famous classic of the European bureaucracy Josep Borrell, ‘Europe is a garden and the rest of the world is a jungle’, but that they look down on
the world. However, as is often the case, foreign teachers fail to see the beam in their own eye, although they try to scrutinise it in someone else’s.

Divide and conquer

The Western liberal system — and this is the most accurate name for what they impose on us under the guise of democracy — was formed only after the Second World War. Capitalist countries were faced with the task of dividing society into groups for more effective manipulation of mass consciousness. Thus, the ‘middle class’ was singled out from the majority. Its loyalty to the system was premised on relative well-being and financial dependence.
However, from the beginning of the 21st century, especially after the crisis of 2008–2009, the system of the Western social contract began to collapse. The standard of living, thanks to which Western citizens agreed to the liberal democracy of minorities, went down abruptly. Along with that, political rights in a veiled form not only remained limited, but even were gradually shrinking. 
Over the past few decades, the current generation has turned out to be the first in the West to live not better, but worse compared to their parents. Branko Milanović, a lead economist in the World Bank’s research department, has developed an ‘elephant chart’, which shows that middle-class incomes have grown at the slowest rate over the past decade. In contrast, the standard of living in the countries the West has labelled as ‘non-democratic’ has increased significantly. These countries manage to implement decisions promptly, which ensures accelerated economic development and growth.

Behind-the-scenes arrangements

The liberal system involves the dispersion of powers between different branches of government so that an average citizen often has no one to ask for the decisions made in the country. Presidents, parliaments, governments and kings simply shift responsibility onto each other and explain all this with the notorious system of ‘checks and balances’. 
Moreover, a huge number of important personnel appointments in Western countries do not take place directly
by the people through elections but in a bureaucratic way, far from being democratic. Such practices are expanding every year.
The EU institutions are particularly closed from the majority of Europeans. Although the European Parliament is made up of elected deputies, the European Commission is headed by an appointed chairperson, whereas it is the most important EU’s executive body that proposes and implements laws, budgets and regulations. This state of affairs directly contradicts the idea that power in democracies should be exercised by an elected parliament or by a popularly elected leader.

The deep state is against

The structure of the liberal system is so sophisticated that it allows preventing or sabotaging reforms and changes in case an inconvenient candidate comes to power. Donald Trump is a telling example of this. His presidency had
a lot of expectations, yet the system of the American deep state actually outplayed the famous businessman.
First, the state’s red tape rebelled against Trump. Some cases were conspicuous by their comic side, when official documents were taken out of the White House administration and information was ‘leaked’ for internal use. Those leaks became a headache for Donald Trump.
Second, elite groups brought confusion and mess to Donald Trump’s fulfillment of his election promises by a fairly simple and devious method of making all sorts of accusations, launching impeachment proceedings, and manipulating Congress. They were clearly wearing down Trump’s team.
Thirdly, the organised harassment of ‘mighty Donald’ by the mainstream media, turning him into a toxic politician, blocking all his attempts to convey his messages to US citizens, spiced things up.
Accusations of extremism against any political forces that criticise the liberal system add even more fuel to the fire. Thus, German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck did not rule out the possibility of launching a ban procedure against the Alternative for Germany (AfG) opposition party in connection with an alleged secret meeting of representatives of conservative circles, including AfG members, held in November 2023. According to him, “The security authorities also have to act systematically, collect evidence, closely monitor subdivisions, individuals, events and statements to make sure an application would not fail before the Federal Constitutional Court. Consistent punishment of crimes, robustness and even severity in accordance with our laws are also absolutely necessary.”

Growing distrust 

According to the Ipsos 2023 study, 7 out of 10 Americans who took part in the poll noted that the level of democracy in the United States had fallen over the past few years. The same point of view regarding democracy in France is shared by 73 percent of French respondents. At the same time, 6 out of 10 British residents indicated that the democratic 
system in the United Kingdom is now ‘functioning worse than five years ago’.
The same study has revealed that, when answering the question ‘How satisfied are you with the way democracy works in your country?’, only 28 percent of Britons, 24 percent of Italians and 29 percent of French people said they were satisfied with the situation. In addition, people are convinced that the economy and financial system serve exceptionally rich and influential citizens. The number of supporters of this point of view in Italy makes 72 percent, in the UK — 71,
in France — 69, in the USA — 67. In other words, people believe that the authorities of their countries are more focused 
on the interests of the rich and powerful.
The research conducted by the Policy Institute at King’s College London shows that the vast majority of the UK population thinks that politics in the country does not serve the interests of the people. Only 17 percent of its residents say they are ‘highly satisfied’ with how the political system is functioning these days. That is, the great majority does not believe that the UK is a truly democratic country.

Request for a strong leader

Citizens of the countries that Western propaganda tends to call ‘beacons of democracy’ do not consider their political systems to be such. Imposing principles that the interests of minorities are above the interests of the majority, reproaching other countries for being non-democratic while exerting strong pressure on public opinion and civil institutions in their Western countries, increased deterioration of the socio–economic situation accompanied with calls to endure it in the name of democracy have led to a banal situation of the growing general distrust.

A fair request for a real democratic majority arises. This is confirmed by research by Christopher Claassen, a political scientist at the University of Glasgow, published in the academic American Political Science Review journal. Based on the data from 135 countries, people around the world view democracy as majority rule. The obsession of Western elites with protecting minority rights results in deep disappointment in the liberal democratic system. Against this background, a request for a strong leader who will defend the interests of the majority becomes especially clear.

By Piotr Petrovsky, political expert