Around the world democracies danced at the funerals of monarchies, dictatorships, and fascists.
After centuries of tyranny, the birth of “democracy” became the inevitable outcome. According to Plato, “tyranny naturally arises out of democracy”, breathing life into an idea for the welfare of humanity.
Democracy took hold of mind and body in the late 18th and 19th centuries, creating “the age of revolution” against corruption, cruelty, and injustice.
Following the American and French revolutions, the death of a monarch was the burying of oppression and the resurrection of the human spirit. In their zeal for a democracy, they did not envision that they set up their own destruction. What they created was the “tyranny of the majority”, warned by French political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), where individual rights are sacrificed by some for the sake of the majority — that is the democratic system.
Our dream of a democracy “is impossible to practice.”
A direct democracy is generally considered impossible to implement on a large scale. We need representatives or “elites”, a small group that makes decisions on behalf of the masses in economic, social, and political domains. The groups decide — the masses follow.
Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), regarded as father of the French Revolution, also feared the groups: “The day you elect representatives is the day you lose your freedom.”
Now we know that in needing a system to protect us, we gradually undermine the very foundation of our protection. This is the inherent pitfall of democracy — majority rules, leaving minority voices silent, their rights ignored.
Once we choose representatives, which is our freedom, our self- rule is sacrificed the moment it is delegated. Out of our hands now, it is handed to our “elites”, to do as they please.
What went wrong with this definition of an ideal dream of a perfect government, often referred to by Oscar Wilde as “simply the bludgeoning of the people, by the people, for the people”?
Plato had the foresight to envision that a democracy inevitably decays into a “plutocracy” (ruled by the wealthy), or what is often referred to now as an “oligarchy” (ruled by the few) — both describing a system where a small privileged group holds power.
Our ideal democracy accumulated its many flaws through the ages and has now become insurmountable.
Democracy is in retreat around the globe. The share of citizens dissatisfied with democracy has risen significantly in the last 25 years. The traditional “one man, one vote”, a fundamental democratic principle, is no longer convincing. Many citizens feel their representatives in their parties do not represent their views, therefore the retreat and malaise in the democratic system.
With the exception of a handful of countries, the Nordic countries, Switzerland and New Zealand, most fail to deliver. Sixty per cent of the people have little or no confidence, reaching up to 80 per cent as “totally bad”.
We lament the demoralised disillusion of Greece, regarded by most scholars as the birthplace of democracy — its very name, derived from demos, meaning “the people” and kratos meaning “authority or rule”.
The romance with democracy flourished as early as 600 BC. Because the Greeks viewed dictatorship as the worst form of government, they created its exact opposite. Democracy applied to only 50 per cent of the population. The rest, women and slaves, had no rights. So much for a perfect democracy.
We fear the state of democracy, long seen as defender of freedom and justice. Once viewed as “the shining city upon a hill” with its statue of Lady Liberty calling for “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”, her voice is weakened, her message muffled.
Several indices, including the Economic Intelligence Unit, have downgraded the US from a “full democracy” to a “flawed democracy” in 2016. In September 2025, it downgraded its classification to an “electoral authoritarian” regime.
Can it be that the US is ranked 28th globally by the Economist Intelligence Unit, with France, South Korea, and India, among others? Is it not shocking that the US has declined so rapidly?
Some believe that US democracy is “on the edge of an abyss”. We have slowly awakened to a troubling new world. The unfamiliar face of America is no longer welcoming or even trustworthy.
We keep reminding ourselves that democracy is the most successful political idea, admired and sought after, despite wars, slavery, and injustices. People still toy with dreams of the shining city on the hill, but the US has experienced a sharp historic decline in immigrants, dropping from 2.7 million to 1.3 million from July 2024 to June 2025.
While democracy is defined as “by the people”, its survival relies on a small minority of elites. A poor man is often trampled upon by the best of democracies. The masses just follow, hoping their representatives will abide by their wishes.
There is little chance that any democracy will eventually develop into oligarchic tendencies.
With 76 per cent of Americans believing democracy is a threat, why not move it back to a “full democracy”? Abide by its admirable constitution, modelled after several countries worldwide?
The American dream is increasingly seen as a myth or an outdated concept, unattainable as in previous generations.
Remove the flaws, climb out of the abyss, return the dream. The world needs a strong democracy, inspiring others to pursue freedom and remain an example for the world.
“The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather to repair her faults.”
Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968)
* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 February, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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