The Biggest Electoral Year in History: Will Democracy Survive 2024? | DW News

Feb 3, 2024 | 2024 is the biggest electoral year in history, with people heading to the polls in dozens of countries. This is DW’s preview to the most consequential elections of 2024 across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas – and what they mean for the health and future of democracy. Correspondent Rosie Birchard speaks to DW experts on Taiwan, India, South Africa, Mexico, the EU and the US.

Chainsaw Politics: Cutting Down the Democratic Establishment? | To The Point

Dec 14, 2023

Die deutsche Version dieser Sendung kann man auch ansehen. Klicken Sie bitte hier. Der Name der Sendung heißt „Politik mit der Kettensäge: Wird das demokratische Establishment zerlegt?“

Nancy Pelosi: Republicans Have Placed Democracy in Jeopardy

Dec 7, 2023 | On the day former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announces his retirement from Congress, fellow California representative Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi tells MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell that she would rather talk about what is at stake in 2024: our democracy.

Katherine Stewart on Far-right Ideology and Its Threat to Democracy | The Warning Podcast

Nov 20, 2023 | Steve is joined by Katherine Stewart, an American journalist and author to discuss Far-right ideology and its threat to democracy, extremism in the American right and how this will impact the 2024 election

WIKIPEDIA: Claremont Institute »

Islam: Democracy vs Theocracy | #shorts

John Anderson talks to Niall Ferguson about this.
My essay on this very topic written in April 2007 here.

Since the Heinous Hamas Terror Attack on Israel, Germany Is Experiencing a New Dimension of Hate for German Values, for Democracy and for Germany

MARK ALEXANDER: In Germany — and in all probability elsewhere in the West, too — many residents despise the German/Western way of life. They bring their children up to despise the Western way of life, as well. For such people, Germans and other Westerners are considered to be infidels. A concept difficult for the secular, Western mind to grapple with.

I, for one, warned of this phenomenon more than twenty years ago in my book, The Dawning of a New Dark Age. It was like whistling into the wind! Many simply didn’t want to hear the message. They didn’t want their comfortable lives disturbed by uncomfortable facts. They preferred to sing Kumbaya instead. But facts are facts, however people want to spin or slice them. I said it then and I will repeat it now, Islam and democracy are totally incompatible. One is either a Muslim or one is a democrat. One cannot be both a devout Muslim and an ardent democrat. No Sir! This is not possible. Period!

I wrote an essay on this way back in April 2007. I reposted in March 2017 here and in August 2021 here.

At last, the mainstream media (MSM) are beginning to wake up. It has taken a while, but it is happening – slowly. For instance, today, I see that BILD in Germany are ahead of the curve and are reporting about this phenomenon in various languages.

In German, they have an article entitled, Deutschland, wir haben ein Problem!. The same article appears in English under the title, Germany, we have a problem!

The same article also appears in Turkish here, in Russian here, and in Arabic here.

Happy Reading!

© Mark Alexander

The Corporate WAR with Democracy

Aug 9, 2023 | Oligarchs have overthrown democracy & are at war with you.

Matt Kennard’s new book: Silent Coup: How Corporations Overthrew Democracy »

Double Down News can be supported here.

Juan Carlos: The Rise & Fall of Spain's Scandalous King | From Francoism to Democracy | Real Royalty

Feb 8, 2023 | In this exclusive documentary, Juan Carlos de Bourbon, for decades one of the most popular and powerful monarchs of Europe, reflects on his life. Born to a royal family in exile, following the proclamation of the second Spanish Republic, his childhood was shrouded in uncertainty. He was educated under the benevolent tutelage of Franco, who selected him to be head of state, bypassing his own father. It was expected he would continue Franco’s own authoritarian regime. Instead, he introduced reforms that began the transition to democracy. In 1981, he played a pivotal role in ending a coup and is seen as one of the founders of Spanish democracy.

But his life has also been controversial. He was implicated in the tragic death of his younger brother, killed in a shooting accident and in recent years, the Spanish royal family has been beset by scandals. What does he think about these events?

How Neoliberalism Threatens Democracy

May 25, 2016 | Neoliberalism, warns Professor Wendy Brown, has created a form of reasoning in which human beings are reduced to their economic value and activity, and in which all fields of human activity are treated as markets and institutions, including the state, are increasingly run as if they were corporations. This logic is even applied to activities with no connection to wealth creation, such as education, dating, or physical exercise, which are increasingly governed according to market rules. People are treated in this schema, as units of human capital who must constantly tend to their own present and future value.

Why Is the Democratic Backslide Accelerating? | DW News

Nov 30, 2022 | Half of the world's democracies are in a state of decline amid worsening civil liberties and rule of law while already authoritarian governments are becoming more oppressive, the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) says in its latest report on the global state of democracy

Former Moscow Rabbi Wants All Jews to Leave Putin's Russia | Conflict Zone

Moscow's former chief rabbi discusses anti-Semitism, morality and red line between democracy and authoritarianism in Vladimir Putin's Russia. Pinchas Goldschmidt spoke with Tim Sebastian from Berlin.

Velshi: When Biden Said Putin 'Cannot Remain in Power', He Was Right. And He Should Stick to It

Mar 27, 2022 • America is backsliding on democracy, largely because of the after effects of Donald Trump’s undermining and denial of the outcome of the 2020 election. But democratic backsliding is the norm all over the world today. According to a report by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, the number of countries moving in an authoritarian direction in 2020 outnumbered those going in a democratic direction. So when President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” he was right. And he should stick by it.

Will Ukraine War Spark a Decline in Support for Authoritarianism? | The Bottom Line

Mar 25, 2022 • When Francis Fukuyama wrote the book The End of History and the Last Man after the Soviet Union was dissolved 30 years ago, he argued that the West’s version of liberal democracy had triumphed over all other ideologies.

Since then, an increasing number of countries are becoming more authoritarian or illiberal democracies.

Fukuyama tells host Steve Clemons that the Ukraine war is a turning point for Western-style democracy, and institutions such as NATO are getting a boost in popularity. People will eventually turn their backs on authoritarian, populist and nationalist ideologies and leaders, in his estimation, and relearn how to tolerate differences.

Ocasio-Cortez Asked If US Will Be a Democracy in 10 Years. Hear Her Answer

Feb 15, 2022 • In an interview with David Remnick of "The New Yorker," Rep. Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) says there's a "very real risk" the United States will not still be a democracy in a decade.

Confused Conservatives Wonder How America Fell?

Why Are Autocrats Popular? - Assault on Democracy | DW Documentary

Nov 6, 2021 • A wave of authoritarianism is churning from East to West and assailing civil society. Autocrats are threatening democracy, while their regimes portray NGOs as Trojan horses for foreign interference.

The resurgence of authoritarianism is impacting countries across the globe, no matter what their form of government. "In the Crosshairs of the State" documents this worldwide phenomenon using the examples of India, Russia, and Poland and shows how civil society is being repressed, and what impact this can have on the future of democracy.

When populists and autocrats wield power, the first victims are civil liberties. However, regimes aren’t stopping at attacking and imprisoning activists - they go as far as criminalizing entire groups and freezing their funds. These governments are increasingly targeting NGOs and other players in civil society that demand democracy and assert human rights or protest about social grievances and environmental destruction. The methods of choice are defamation campaigns, repression, and criminalization.

In the past few years, certain countries have passed over 60 laws specifically aiming to systematically impede NGOs’ work or completely put an end to it. The root causes are wide-ranging, but it all boils down to rulers’ desire to remain in power and protect their economic interests. Beyond authoritarian wielders of power, democratic governments are increasingly clamping down on independent and critical players, too.

Are we experiencing a full-on global assault on civil society? What happens when the driving force of democracy - the people themselves - is silenced? How can we counter this development? Film director Sebastian Weis investigates these question, relating the situations in India, Russia, and Poland chapter by chapter, with each country representing an overarching issue. India faces environmental destruction, Russians are seeing human rights be eroded, and in Poland women’s rights are under attack.

The Paterson Fiasco Confirms the Threat Boris Johnson Poses to British Democracy

THE GUARDIAN – OPINION: The PM either ignores or rewrites the rules meant to hold him in check. He was thwarted this week, but the danger persists

‘This was merely the latest instance of Boris Johnson deciding that an ally clearly in breach of the rules should escape all consequence.’ Prime minister's questions, 3 November, 2021.Photograph: Jessica Taylor/UK PARLIAMENT/AFP/Getty Images
How many more times does it need to happen? How much more proof do we need that the country is run by a man with contempt for the rule of law, who believes that he and his friends are beyond its reach?

Boris Johnson demonstrated that again to the nation this week, as vividly as he could. Faced with the prospect that Owen Paterson, a comrade from the Brexit trenches of 2016, would be punished for what parliament’s standards committee called “an egregious case of paid advocacy”, Johnson instructed MPs to let his chum off the hook. The prime minister’s orders, dutifully followed by 250 of his troops, were to halt Paterson’s 30-day suspension from the House of Commons and to scrap the system that had found him guilty, replacing it with one that would be gentler in its treatment of Conservatives – because Conservatives would design it and dominate it.

The move was shocking because it was so brazen, not because it was novel. For this was merely the latest instance of Johnson deciding that an ally clearly in breach of the rules should escape all consequence. The roll call should be familiar by now. When Dominic Cummings decided the national lockdown did not really apply to him, Johnson stood by him. When Robert Jenrick fast-tracked an “unlawful” planning decision that would save Richard Desmond, a Tory donor, £45m in local taxes, Jenrick stayed in his post. When Priti Patel’s bullying behaviour was found to be a violation of the ministerial code, she too kept her job. If you’re on Team Johnson, the normal rules don’t apply.

Sometimes it’s about rewarding loyalty or a valuable favour. So when the Lords Appointments Commission decided that another Tory donor, Peter Cruddas, was not fit to receive a peerage, Johnson gave him one anyway. But just as often, the prime minister’s disregard for the rules extends to the gravest matters of state. » | Jonathan Freedland | Friday, November 5, 2021

Owen Paterson was just the fall guy. This week’s chaos was all about Boris Johnson: The prime minister has faced multiple investigations. You can see why the obliteration of the standards commissioner might seem appealing »

The Government Promised to Clamp Down on Shell Companies. It Has Failed to Do So

THE GUARDIAN: These schemes are an invitation to dodge taxes and accept bribes. And as the Pandora papers show, they’re thriving

Anyone able to afford the entry fee still has access to a financial network denied to the rest of us.’ Photograph: peterhowell/Getty Images/iStockphoto
If it feels as if the secrets revealed by the Pandora papers – the biggest ever leak of offshore data – are familiar, that’s because they are.

A Ukrainian president, a former British prime minister, a friend of Vladimir Putin, they all featured in the Panama papers – which uncovered the financial information of more than 200,000 offshore businesses – back in 2016. Here we are five years later, reading about them all over again.

The individuals may be different: it’s Tony Blair this time, not David Cameron; Ukraine has a new president; and the Putin friend is an oil trader, not a cellist. But the essential details are the same. Anyone able to afford the entry fee still has access to a financial network denied to the rest of us; and it follows that no one in power has done anything substantive about it in the past half-decade.

t shouldn’t need saying, but this is bad. Democracies only survive because the law applies equally to everyone. If a shadow system persists that allows the rich and powerful to avoid obeying the same rules as the rest of us, the trust that underpins our system will disappear. Without trust, democracy cannot survive. » | Oliver Bullough | Monday, October 4, 2021

It is self-evident that we are not living in democracies but kleptocracies! Whilst this is going on, any talk of democracy is laughable. Our systems are corrupt and rotten to the core. Who can be trusted anymore? Each man is out for himself. Further, the bigger the theft, the more likely you are to get away with it! Steal a Mars bar and you're in deep trouble; steal a few billion and all is well – you're protected. Talk of perversion, this is it! Rotten is as rotten does. – © Mark

The National Security State Is Devouring Our Democracy with Lawrence Wilkerson

Oct 16, 2020 • Co-sponsored with the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency and the International Scene Lecture Series

WIKIPEDIA: Lawrence Wilkerson.

German President Steinmeier: 'This Is a Test for Our Democracy' | DW Interview

In an interview with DW, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed his sympathy with the relatives of the attack in Nice. He warned that democratic societies must not "commit themselves to a course that makes hatred and exclusion the yardstick for state action." Steinmeier spoke about the challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis and warned of the increasing sharpness of the debate on the measures used to contain it. The German President also talked about the significance of the U.S. elections and the relationship with Russia, as well as what Angela Merkel's successor must prepare for. Steinmeier (a member of the SPD since 1975) was a long-time companion of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Foreign Minister in Merkel's cabinet. He has been Federal President since 2017. The interview was conducted by Rosalia Romaniec.