Democracy Under Siege: Pre-Course Reflections from Paris
Writing from Paris as I prepare for a summer elective at Sciences Po on contemporary democratic challenges
Sitting in a café near the Panthéon, surrounded by the monuments to French republican ideals, I'm struck by the irony of studying democracy's decline in one of its historic birthplaces. This summer, I'll be diving deep into an elective course on challenges to contemporary global democracies at Sciences Po, and as I prepare for the intensive weeks ahead, I find myself grappling with just how fragile our democratic institutions have proven to be.
The timing feels particularly poignant. Just blocks away from where I'm writing, the French political system is still reeling from recent electoral upheavals, while across the Atlantic, American democracy continues to strain under unprecedented pressures. Meanwhile, from Hungary to India, from Turkey to Brazil, the erosion of democratic norms has become a global phenomenon that demands serious academic attention.
The Polycrisis of Democracy
What strikes me most as I begin this intellectual journey is how multifaceted the challenges to democracy have become. We're not dealing with a single threat but rather what scholars call a "polycrisis"—multiple, interconnected challenges that reinforce each other in dangerous ways.
The Information Crisis sits at the heart of many democratic failures. Social media platforms have created echo chambers that make shared truth increasingly elusive. When citizens can't agree on basic facts, democratic deliberation becomes impossible. The rise of disinformation campaigns, both foreign and domestic, has weaponised this fragmentation. Democracy depends on informed citizenry, but what happens when information itself becomes a battlefield?
Economic Inequality has reached levels not seen since the Gilded Age in many Western democracies. When economic power concentrates in fewer hands, political power inevitably follows. The wealthy gain outsized influence through lobbying, campaign contributions, and the revolving door between government and industry. Meanwhile, working-class communities lose faith in democratic institutions that seem incapable of addressing their material concerns.
Institutional Decay manifests differently across contexts but shares common patterns. In the United States, gerrymandering and voter suppression undermine electoral integrity. In Europe, European Union institutions struggle with democratic legitimacy as power shifts away from national parliaments. In emerging democracies, weak rule of law allows corruption to flourish, eroding public trust in democratic governance.
The Populist Response
Perhaps most fascinating—and troubling—is how these challenges have given rise to populist movements that claim to defend democracy while simultaneously undermining it. From Trump's "America First" to Brexit's "Take Back Control," populist leaders tap into genuine grievances about democratic representation while offering authoritarian solutions.
The populist playbook has become depressingly familiar: claim to represent "the real people" against corrupt elites, attack independent media as "fake news," undermine judicial independence, and gradually erode the norms that make democratic competition possible. What makes this particularly insidious is that populists often win power through democratic means, then use that power to dismantle democratic institutions from within.
Hungary's Viktor Orbán has perfected this approach, maintaining the formal structures of democracy while gutting its substance through media control, judicial capture, and civil society suppression. It's what scholars call "competitive authoritarianism"—elections continue, but the playing field becomes so tilted that meaningful competition disappears.
The Technology Challenge
The digital revolution has fundamentally altered the landscape of democratic politics in ways we're still struggling to understand. Social media platforms have democratized information sharing but also created new vulnerabilities. Foreign interference in elections, once limited to covert operations, can now be conducted openly through targeted advertising and bot networks.
Artificial intelligence raises even more profound questions. Deep fakes threaten to make truth indistinguishable from fiction. Algorithmic curation of information creates filter bubbles that reinforce existing beliefs rather than challenging them. The concentration of technological power in a handful of Silicon Valley companies gives private corporations unprecedented influence over public discourse.
Meanwhile, surveillance technology gives governments capabilities that would have been unimaginable to previous generations of authoritarians. China's social credit system demonstrates how digital tools can be used to monitor and control populations in ways that make traditional repression look primitive.
Global Interconnectedness, Local Fragmentation
Paradoxically, as the world becomes more connected, democratic politics seems to be becoming more fragmented and nationalistic. Global economic forces create local political reactions that often take anti-democratic forms. The 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change all require coordinated international responses, yet they've often strengthened nationalist movements that reject multilateral cooperation.
This creates a fundamental tension: the problems facing contemporary societies are increasingly global in scope, but democratic accountability remains stubbornly local. How can citizens hold their representatives accountable for global phenomena beyond any single nation's control? This disconnect between the scale of problems and the scope of democratic authority may be one of the most fundamental challenges facing contemporary democracy.
The Generational Divide
What particularly concerns me as I prepare for this course is the growing evidence that younger generations are less committed to democratic values than their predecessors. Surveys consistently show declining support for democracy among young people in established democracies, with many expressing openness to authoritarian alternatives if they deliver results.
This represents a profound shift from the post-Cold War consensus that democracy was the "end of history." For my generation, democracy isn't the triumphant victor over authoritarianism—it's a struggling system that seems incapable of addressing climate change, inequality, or technological disruption. The appeal of "Singapore-style" technocracy or even authoritarian efficiency becomes understandable when democratic governments appear paralysed by polarisation and special interests.
Questions for the Weeks Ahead
As I prepare to dive deeper into these issues at Sciences Po, several questions keep returning to my mind:
Can democratic institutions adapt quickly enough to address the challenges they face, or are they inherently too slow and cumbersome for the modern world? Is the problem with democracy itself, or with how it's currently practised in specific contexts?
How do we balance the need for democratic deliberation with the urgency of global challenges like climate change that may require swift, decisive action? Can we create new forms of democratic participation that go beyond periodic elections to include more continuous citizen engagement?
What role should technology play in democracy's future? Can digital tools enhance democratic participation, or do they inevitably lead to manipulation and control? How do we regulate powerful tech companies without stifling innovation or free expression?
Most fundamentally, what does it mean to be a democratic citizen in the 21st century? How do we cultivate the civic virtues necessary for democratic life in an age of individualism and consumerism?
The View from Paris
There's something both inspiring and sobering about studying democracy's challenges in Paris. This city has witnessed the birth of modern democratic ideals, but also their repeated failures and reinventions. The French Revolution's promise of liberté, égalité, fraternité gave way to the Terror. The Third Republic fell to fascism. The Fourth Republic collapsed under the weight of colonial wars.
Yet each time, democracy has been reborn in new forms. Perhaps that's the lesson I should carry into my studies: democracy isn't a fixed system but an ongoing experiment that requires constant renewal and adaptation. The challenges facing contemporary democracy are real and serious, but they're not necessarily fatal if we're willing to engage with them seriously and creatively.
As I prepare for the intensive weeks of study ahead, I'm reminded that understanding these challenges is the first step toward addressing them. Democracy's future isn't predetermined—it depends on the choices made by citizens, scholars, and leaders who are willing to grapple with complexity rather than retreating into simplistic solutions.
The view from my café window includes both the Panthéon's classical columns and the diverse, bustling streets of contemporary Paris. It's a reminder that democracy's ideals are timeless, but their expression must evolve with changing circumstances. The work of understanding and renewing democracy continues, one conversation, one course, one citizen at a time.
Next week, I begin my deep dive into these questions alongside fellow students from around the world. I suspect I'll have more questions than answers by the end, but perhaps that's exactly what democracy requires: citizens who never stop questioning, never stop learning, and never stop working to perfect the imperfect art of self-governance.