The Crisis of Democracy - Spotlight #5

The crisis of governments caused by populist parties:

German people have always trusted the government and its institutions, a characteristic that has neither been disenthralled nor decayed to a destructive level. This characteristic held the German nation, empire, boundary or the two republics after the Second World War together, lending it the ability to face extraordinary challenges and rising to the circle of superpowers – for a short time, allowedly.

This confidence is now facing its maximum cool down. Governments all over the world are facing this issue, the most astonishing and horrific example is the United States of America with their President Trump who is deteriorating the country’s integrity actively. Nobody predicted such an evolution in Germany, not even before the election of the national parliament in September 2017.

But now the issue of a structural government crisis has arrived in our land, too. The political dictum of common sense and positive dispute, all below the maxim of helping the total to thrive has made room for populistic politics and egoism in every edge of the institutions of political decision-making. Recently, Germany chose a new parliament, the people elected the biggest parliament in our history with seven parties, a novelty. Now the system is blocking itself: after the first coalition negotiations, a party broke up the negotiations and started the crisis. The party’s leader declared on 19th of November, 2017, that his party will no longer take part in the coalition negotiations, with the words: “It is better, not to reign, than to reign faultily!” Nobody expected this to happen, but it did. It shows us the populism overcoming even the old parties in our political systems.

Where did this evolution start?

This issue is a perfect example for the globalisation of our world. Revolutions, wars, terroristic attacks are affecting the whole world now, as the war in Syria did and does. Waves of refugees flooded the European Union, where Germany was one of the countries that did applicate the most refugees, 750,000 in total until 2017. This caused a polarization of political thinking, starting in 2014, developing until today. Additionally, a new conservative party was founded, but it slid fast into the edge, where nationalistic ideas, populism, liberalism, extreme conservatism cumulated. In these days, the party is tearing apart more and more each month. People trying to negate the holocaust even so as people, who want to gain political influence at all costs, egoists, conspiracy theorists and anti-Semites are feeling homelike in this party called AfD. It wasn't doubtful that this kind of party would start to tear the political stability as well as it has been torn apart by individuals itself. This is the new “pseudo-European” spirit: increasing and irrational nationalism, Anti-Europeanism, xenophobia and the will to reinterpret history. Our political systems are facing extreme challenges caused by this issue, but it is surely right, that they also have to search for the causes which led to this evolution in their own past.

Nobody knows, in which way this situation will impact societies in Europe, America, and the world. We are all facing the same issue, some earlier, and some later. Some countries fail below the pressure, some still manage to hold stability – but for how long anymore? Maybe the development in France could be a great opportunity for its neighbour: under the illustrious President Macron, France has managed to not succumb under the influence of their far-right party, the Front National, and is starting to overcome its economic crisis. It is renewing its political system, the society, the way of political thinking.

Maybe we should take France as an example for every country that is facing the same problem right now – and I can't find one country of the great powers of the world which doesn’t. We need to renew our systems, otherwise they will disintegrate slowly. This evolution is taking place in Turkey today. On the other hand, an optimistic mind would detect a challenge here which can lead to better times. A crisis is a bad thing – if you take it in the short-term vision. But a crisis also starts debates, affecting the people to overthink their carefully maintained traditions. And everyone living in pauperism would agree on a renewal of the systems spanning the world, that's for sure.

Leonard Hennersdorf,
Leo Club of Neckar-Franken, Germany.

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