For political scientists, every country is either a democracy, an autocracy or something in between. Democracies conduct free and fair elections, autocracies don’t. However, not all democracies are equally democratic. Some countries like Norway or New Zealand are very democratic, while Brazil and Poland’s political systems are on the edge of becoming an autocracy. What varies in these countries are people’s trust in democratic institutions, how well they function, and the way public conflicts are managed. In an ideal democracy, no one even considers violating democratic norms.
Over the last 26 years, many countries have experienced democratic backsliding. In the US, Donald Trump was elected; in Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro clings to power; while in France Marine Le Pen recently got 41.5 per cent of the votes in the second ballot.
The process of decreasing democracy often includes a loss of willingness to solve conflicts through democratic channels. In many countries, COVID conspiracy theorists declined to treat the state as a legitimate authority and thereby undermined democracy.
Democratic backsliding includes decreasing faith in democratic institutions, which can be triggered by events like the US Supreme Court changing its mind about abortion rights after decades of jurisdiction built on its legality.
Also, democracy is weaker with increased corruption and a reduced rule of law.
Malta seems unaffected by this worldwide trend. According to the Varieties of Democracy project, Malta’s democracy has roughly been at the same level since 1992. However, this does not mean that Malta should serve as a role model of a perfect democracy. Although the country’s democracy is stable, it still is about 10 percentage points below the EU average.
Reasons for this decline of democracy are diverse, but one thing that has fuelled it in recent years is the use of filtering algorithms on the internet. Search engines as well as social media platforms use algorithms that are designed to confirm the user’s opinions and hide things that contradict their worldview. This polarises political views, weakens people’s trust in democracy and their willingness to take part in democratic processes.
Sound Bites
• Quitting the use of social media can have a positive impact on your mental health. Researchers from the University of Bath found this when they asked test subjects not to use social media for only one week.
• Marshlands are the earth’s most efficient natural carbon storage systems. Human activities, such as draining the marshes for agriculture, have decreased the area that is covered by marshlands, but according to scientists from the Duke University, it is not too late to save them.
For more science news, listen to Radio Mocha on Radju Malta and www.fb.com/RadioMochaMalta/.
DID YOU KNOW?
• There are about 1,386 million trillion litres of water in the world.
• Birds are descendants of dinosaurs.
• The human species that persisted the longest was Homo erectus, which survived about two million years.
• An individual blood cell takes about 60 seconds to make a complete circuit of the body.
• Native language speakers typically know 15,000 to 20,000 word families in their first languages.
For more trivia, see www.um.edu.mt/think.