How Democracies Die
Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
Although there are many systems that function to keep democracy going, these safeguards are useless without the norms of mutual toleration and forbearance. Mutual toleration is the idea that although political opponents may have different views from you, they are still legitimate candidates who want to make their country a better place while forbearance is not using governmental power to influence politics. These ideologies are essential to keep a country going as politicians, especially in a majority party, could easily take over the government of a country.
Although politicians may originally wish to follow the norms of mutual toleration and forbearance, escalation and going “tit for tat” can lead to the erosion of a democracy. An example of this is in Peru. Driven by their disgust for the corruption in Peru, the people of Peru elected Fujimori, a business owner who was running only for publicity. However, Fujimori faced severe opposition from the legislative body as he had no political party to back himself up. Fujimori and the legislative body kept stretching their powers in unethical ways until eventually, following a failed impeachment attempt, Fujimori dissolved the legislative body and the constitution. Although this happened in Peru, which has not had the historically strongest democracy, it serves as a good example of what can happen when politicians put aside the thought of compromise and abandon the ideas of mutual toleration and forbearance.
Another way democracies can fall is when extremists are allowed into the inner ranks of political parties and from there take over the party and country. These extremists can be identified through a few traits. First, when politicians reject the norms of democracy, such as calling for undemocratic processes, usually followed by an attempt to justify them for some emergency they are clearly trying to set themselves up to take power while framing themselves as a hero. Second, when they deny the legitimacy of political opponents, this completely breaks the norm of mutual tolerance and is very anti-democratic as they are trying to break down the very foundation of democracy. Third, when politicians encourage violence, it foreshadows later violence, as if a politician condones violence when there are low stakes, they will definitely use it if they try to take over a country. Finally, when politicians are willing to curtail civil liberties, such as the freedom of speech and freedom of press, they are clearly setting themselves up for a dictatorship, in which these freedoms are similarly suppressed. Therefore, if any of these tendencies can be seen in a politician, they should not be allowed into the government.
There are a variety of ways to keep extremists out of the government. First and foremost among these is to keep political extremists out of established political parties as by giving them access to a political party, extremists gain a platform. This can happen by stopping them from participating in primaries and in extreme cases removing them and their followers from the party. Furthermore, not making compromises with extremists is necessary to keep them from controlling the country, this can be seen in Hitler and Musolini, both who were given powerful positions in the government because leaders falsely believed they could control them. Additionally, it is pertinent that political parties, even those who do not agree on many topics, work together against antidemocratic parties to keep them out of power. However, all of these actions are difficult because they require political parties putting the country over their political success.
Mutual toleration and forbearance are necessary to keep a country going. When these norms are eroded, such as in situations political parties go tit-for-tat with each other until an inevitable takeover, countries lose their democracies. Furthermore, undemocratic politicians can lead to the fall of democracies. Popular outsiders who use their influence to gain political power frequently lead to the destruction of democracy. However, if mutual toleration and forbearance are followed and undemocratic politicians are kept out of office, democracy can be maintained.