2024 Elections Half-Time: An Anthology of Concluded, Imminent and Eminent Elections
Elections anthology main thread with rolling article updates.
In this article:
Preface: An introduction to Democracy
OPINION Section 1: Concluded Elections
Indian Elections: One step back for Modi, one step forward for democracy
Taiwan Elections: Navigating the Democracy-Security Dilemma
El Salvador Elections: Perfect cannot be the enemy of good
Chad Elections: Last-man-standing
South Africa Elections: Power corrupts
OPINION Section 2: Imminent and eminent elections
UK Elections: When doing nothing is better than doing something
US Elections: Biden Throws The American Market Into Turmoil (Again.)
Preface: An introduction to Democracy:
Ghana, 1981. Jerry Rawlings, the then Chairman of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, hosted a coup d'état against the very own civilian government which he had installed 2 years earlier in another coup—removing a democratically-elected head of state. Establishing an irreversible proof-of-concept, Jerry had set a dangerous precedent for envious watchers throughout Ghana: that they too had a chance at the throne. Without modern retrospect, Jerry’s story in Ghana might seem otherwise predictable: a sequence of events resembling something leading up to a civil war, an authoritarian state, or a state plunged into anarchy.
Instead, in response to 5 attempted coups from 1983 to 1987, Jerry turned to democracy. In 1992, after years of de facto rule over Ghana, Jerry left his fate up to the electorate. Receiving 58% of the popular vote, Jerry’s electoral victory was not taken with any coercion of the will of the people—the election had been judged and observed to be fair by the Commonwealth and the Organisation of African Unity. He was then re-elected to office—in yet another landslide—in 1996. Jerry’s popularity with the people was justified, though: he had implemented austerity measures which ultimately pleased the electorate in the long-term, whilst ensuring good relations with the West.
Finally, in a never-before-seen decision in Africa, Jerry decided to resign from his office in 2001 on his own volition. Jerry remains a generally admired individual in Ghana and African politics, paving the way for Ghana to become one of the few remaining stable and peaceful democracies in Africa. (BBC 2020)
Democracy had saved Jerry Rawlings from a controversial legacy — and Ghana from plunging into chaos.
Democracy is far from black-and-white—there are no fully undemocratic or democratic states. In a rules-based international order, democracy is even more central to a state’s legitimacy to existence: it is the heart of popular sovereignty—a government must be created by and subject to the will of the people (Katz 1997). In this way, a democracy has become the most legitimate form of government in modern history, leaving authoritarian states to use tactful phrasing to posture themselves as a democracy—most notably China’s version of democracy: a “whole-process people's democracy”.
Ghana’s tale of unlikely democracy sets a positive precedent: that though the path to popular sovereignty is sometimes paved in dust and blood, that road does exist. From the ashes of despotism, democracy can find room to take root. One should not turn their backs on a state simply because of their current status as a struggling democracy. Each election serves as a benchmark test to see how far each state has traveled on this road—how much longer will it take for the people’s will to be fully represented?
The test of each state’s—and hence, each people’s—ability to exercise their will begins.
Bibliography
BBC. “Jerry Rawlings: Why He Divided Opinion in Ghana.” BBC News, November 12, 2020, sec. Africa. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27193658.