Policy Briefs on Global Challenges to Democracy

This Policy Brief charts the history of the parliament of representatives, born more than eight centuries ago in northern Spain. This new instrument of government was among the most precious gifts to the world of modern representative democracy. Parliaments narrowly survived the chaos, war, class conflicts, dictatorships and totalitarianisms of the early decades of the 20th century. Their survival was remarkable, yet there are today signs that the post-1945 renaissance of parliaments is losing momentum. However smart, activist parliaments are on the rise. These legislatures are functioning as watchdog parliaments and their spirit is the grit humans are going to need as we struggle to deal wisely, equitably, democratically with the rich opportunities and cascading dangers of our troubled century.

This Policy Brief considers the case of India, which is instructive in understanding how a state-oriented world organisation can fuel geopolitical competition, impede the goal of achieving substantive democracy, and facilitate the rise of neo-authoritarians. Over the course of the last century, important voices from around the world warned of the destructive potential of nationalism and the way nation states were being constituted. They contemplated a wholly different way of organising the world system. The prescience of their concerns is painfully evident today as we witness the world hurtling down the path of illiberalism, climate calamity, and endless wars, with global bodies seemingly helpless in moderating the capitalist imperative of growth, the rise of populist demagogues, or ruinous interstate competition.

This policy brief examines contemporary challenges to the legitimate state monopoly on the use of force and its possible future. The rule of law is being undermined and attacked and the state monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force is almost universally at risk. What are the values and the shortcomings of a legitimate state monopoly on the use of physical force? What does the concept in its ideal form mean and why are these principles questioned and challenged?

This Policy Brief begins by recalling the grounds for political obedience in terms of the distinction between law and legitimacy. What does citizenship mean in contemporary democratic societies as they become increasingly multicultural? Can dissent be used constructively to redefine the terms of engagement of minority groups with the state?  In the context of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it then briefly sketches the assertion of Hindu primacy in the 2014–19 years before examining the seminal events of 2019 and 2020, when protestors issued a clarion call on the conscience of the state to engage in dialogue with its citizens.