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Count me among those who consider that to be a stepping stone on the way to liberal democracy. Authoritarianism is easy to support when the economy is booming
by matthewmacleod 9y ago
Count me among those who consider that to be a stepping stone on the way to liberal democracy.
Authoritarianism is easy to support when the economy is booming and living standards are increasing. When this falters, which it inevitably will, then discontent will spread from a relatively small group of political discontents to the population at large, who will start to demand change. And that demand can be the pressure that tips the balance in favour of democratic rule.
- sn41 9y agoIt goes the other way as well. In recent history, right-wing fascist authoritarianism has risen when the economy turns bad. e.g. Nazi Germany, 1930s Italy. The Greek right wing groups are currently a non-negligible presence.
- coldtea 9y ago>Authoritarianism is easy to support when the economy is booming and living standards are increasing. When this falters, which it inevitably will, then discontent will spread from a relatively small group of political discontents to the population at large, who will start to demand change. And that demand can be the pressure that tips the balance in favour of democratic rule. If anything, history has taught us the reverse. Nazi Germany became that way exactly because "living standards" were decreasing in the Weimar republic. And all those Latin American countries with low living standards had (and some have) mostly dictatorships and compromised "democracies".
- matthewmacleod 9y agoThat's definitely true too, so always a risk. At least we could conclude that economic pressure can be a driver for change.