The Demise of Democracy?

On October 29th, the far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro won the Brazilian presidential election. The political runner-up, ex-Sao Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad, proclaimed that Brazil's democracy was "'at stake' in Sunday's vote. 'I believe today is a great day for the country which has arrived at a crossroads,' he said." Although his statement was trademarkedly political and vague, the implication was clear: democracy hinged on his election. This statement, frankly, is concerning. Not because the ideals of democracy are in jeopardy (that is a topic for another article, or even book), but because the political stump speech has evolved into a question of democracy itself. Once-crucial political issues in Brazil, such as homelessness and the stability of the economy, have been reduced to an us v. them mentality where the sole issue in question is democracy, or more specifically, its existence at all. This pattern of political debate has progressed over the past two years across American, Turkish, and now Brazilian elections. In 2016, Hillary Clinton painted herself as a champion of democracy with the silent implication that her opponent was totally autocratic and disregarded democracy entirely. While many of these sentiments rang true with Clinton's political supporters, including myself, painting political opponents, or even people that you just don't like, as haters of democracy and tyrants creates a dangerous political environment where political issues fade away and elections become more and more divisive. Most importantly, however, the shift from traditional debates about issues like homelessness to debates with questions of democracy weakens the overall strength of democracy around the world. The founding pillar of our society should not be wielded as a political tool to win individual elections; in fact, democracy shouldn't even be partisan at all. By co-opting democracy to serve a political cause in the immediate, we will inevitably weaken democracy overall. It is crucial to redefine the lines between political rhetoric and constant, unchanging facts because ultimately our democracy should never be up for debate.

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/28/americas/brazil-election/index.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/09/17/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-what-happened-new-afterword/1334259002/