Democracies are doomed to have single term governments going forward as the voters will blame the one in power for the ongoing collapse
Posted by Pirat6662001@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 141 comments
Observation based on all of the latest elections toppling or significantly weakening ruling parties.
As collapse picks up more and more steam, the average voter in the western democracy is starting to feel the effects. Insurance coverage being denied while record storms are happening and fires ravage the whole states. Prices going up on every day goods with stagnant wages. People are looking for someone to blame and will always point to those "in control" .
This will lead to a constant rotation of ruling parties as the realities of collapse will only make the situation worse going forward. Even doing the right thing (lowering emissions and so on) requires degrowth, which many will look at as significant decrease in their standard of living.
Constant changing will lead to - continuity of government and cripple most of long term planning and strategy. It is highly likely we will see a parade of opportunists that will try to enrich themselves as fast as possible, knowing that they will be out the next election cycle.
SCUMDOG_MILLIONAIRE@reddit
What you’re describing OP is the natural limitations and downfall of a two party system. This is why multi party systems and coalitions do better.
But I’m afraid the days of free elections in the US are pretty much over. For decades the Republican strategy has been to gain minority power by bending rules and elections at every level. Now GOP has control of the house, the senate, the executive, most state legislatives, and many federal courts including supreme. With that leverage and with the current burn-it-down MAGA mindset, they’re going to effectively make it impossible for dems to have a fair chance ever again. This is literally a textbook path to authoritarianism.
Cease-the-means@reddit
The Netherlands has probably the best example of a multi party, proportional representation, modern parliament there is...but they still elected a MAGA-esque coalition of rural morons and xenophobic fascists last year. They are doing a really bad job of things though, even/especially for their target voters, so hopefully will swing back the other way next time.
dumnezero@reddit
Democracy requires an educated and informed electorate. Disinformation and promotion of ignorance is, inherently, anti-democratic.
Maliiwan@reddit
Feel free to come check out our thread /r/disinformed
dumnezero@reddit
I already notice disinformation a lot. It's something that moderators should be able to recognize and dispose of.
There's little point to keeping up with specific cases; you can learn the patterns, but otherwise you'll just be reacting, always many steps behind.
Here's another site for your list: https://euvsdisinfo.eu/
evermorecoffee@reddit
Literally why he bought it.
dumnezero@reddit
Thanks. Interesting paper; not surprising, but interesting.
Kittenunleashed@reddit
How to get them voting red? Keep then dumb and poorly fed!
gerusz@reddit
Or more likely: the current coalition falls apart next year, wilders blames it on "the left", and gets even more votes.
Hugeknight@reddit
In Australia we have a bunch of parties but the big two seem to almost always cycle.
TheHipcrimeVocab@reddit
Don't know about a two-party system being the problem. Look at Germany right now. One of the ruling coalition parties wants to implement drastic austerity cuts to people's living standards in order to honor and arbitrary debt ceiling (Finance Minister Christian Lindner). The other party (Olaf Scholt'z party) doesn't want to do that. The government collapses. Ultimately, it's all down to debt and lower living standards.
https://www.dw.com/en/german-coalition-government-collapse/t-63813230
DragonfruitVivid5298@reddit
we have mmp in new zealand maybe it’ll work in the states
80taylor@reddit
I don't think this is true. It's a global trend, and many countries don't have 2 party systems.
Expert_Tea_5484@reddit
It's not a global trend, see mexico and spain's most recent elections where the incumbents retained power and support - and in the case of Mexico their support greatly increased.
SimpleFrosting89@reddit
Brazil has 29 registered parties, but historically, power always stayed in the hands of the military, oligarchs, and capitalists. It doesn't matter if you have 2 or 200 parties. The distribution of power is unbalanced, the game is rigged.
MyNewDawn@reddit
It's not a bug, it's a feature
wam2112@reddit
I’ve been thinking this lately. I noticed also with mayoral elections in big cities. I was telling people we’ll be like Italy which has been notorious for it’s frequent change in governments.
Kansas_Cowboy@reddit
I was just thinking this.
TactlessNachos@reddit
If they improved the material needs of the working class, I bet they could stay in power. Such as saving Americans money every year by implementing universal healthcare. But they try to win over moderates constantly and it's frustrating. People want progressive policies. Its weird to see red states raise their minimum wage and abortion rights but still vote for the party fighting hardest against that.
Kansas_Cowboy@reddit
The problem is democrats were never fully in power. The senate filibuster makes it such that you need 60 Senators to agree to a vote in the first place. Then you have democrats representing conservative states who are basically republican-lite. Universal healthcare never had a chance. I was really upset with Obama, because I didn’t understand that back in the day.
Rainbow_Mirror_@reddit
That just speaks to how odious the dems have become to the average voter. This needs to be a wake up call for them to make serious changes.
Expert_Tea_5484@reddit
This, most mainstream media outlets reporting on how "every" incumbent government in western democracies have been voted out in recent years are just cherry picking their examples to avoid looking at those who've won (and gained support) as these examples usually don't have policies that the msm supports.
You only have to look to the left-wing alliance in Mexico being the incumbents in the 2024 election and yet also receiving a landslide and gaining support to know that it's not all democracies, only those where the incumbent government has failed to substantially improve the living conditions of the majority, and get across the message that they have done so.
firekeeper23@reddit
Just like The Labour Party here in ol'blighty.
Expert_Tea_5484@reddit
At least it seems like the smaller parties in the UK are growing in support now even though we have FPTP (even though it is academically theorised that under FPTP a democracy will always coalesce to a two-party system). Seeing reform gain support has been awful for sure as they essentially want even more extreme neoliberal economics but seeing the greens gain support (the UK greens are pretty good and as their membership grows and shifts leftward so does the party as their policies are decided by direct vote of members) as a party which can hopefully pull labour to the left; as well as seeing support for the libdems (now arguably left of labour in several areas) and plaid cymru grow and more independents getting elected is encouraging for making progress from the left
firekeeper23@reddit
Reform will i expect just become the old Tory party once they have drawn back in the gammon alliance...
dumnezero@reddit
Labour
New Labor
Newlabor
Newliberal
Neoliberal
_Cromwell_@reddit
As far as I'm aware only one of "major democracies" still has a party that was in power at the end of covid that has survived and remains in power and is flourishing.
Morena in Mexico.
Everybody else has been booted out. Morena is flourishing, despite that Mexico had worse inflation than several other countries, has continuing gang problems, etc. I wonder what the difference is. They do almost exclusively have policies aimed at improving lives of normal people, but that can't possibly be it.
jetstobrazil@reddit
Ya it’s just bc of covid. It’s not because we run corporatists against basically a living corporation.
80taylor@reddit
Canada we have the same party, but they are expected to get the boot next election. We also probably haven't had an election since COVID, maybe it was right at the start of COVID, can't remember
Lurkerbeeroneoff@reddit
It was ~1.5 years after the start of major COVID responses (Sept 2021) and ~6-9 months before the "end" of COVID (loosening of major restrictions).
I think it's been a slow building discontent that's reaching critical mass. Less to do with public health response and more to do with economic fallout, disinformation, increasing culture war. Plus lobbying groups like the Century Initiative strain the system while lobbying across party lines. An intensive immigration push without considerations for housing or infrastructure will kill the popularity of any governing party.
_Cromwell_@reddit
Yeah sorry I was basically just assuming they are dead lol. So I was counting them as out
Expert_Tea_5484@reddit
In 2023 the left-wing coalition in the Spanish government were also the incumbents and retained power. The smaller party in the coalition lost some support but the larger party in the coalition also increased their support by about the same. They definitely were nowhere near as successful as Morena in Mexico but they managed to retain about the same level of support as when they won the previous election.
_Cromwell_@reddit
Oh yes! Forgot that one thanks
Intertravel@reddit
Which is why I think Trump was “ selected” by people in power to be elected president. They need a heavy hand in government before those rendered homeless and desperate reach critical mass. They need to criminalize the homeless and activists and throw them in jail so there is not enough of them to cause issues. Soon there will be enough advanced technology to control the population but they still need time to consolidate power. “Antifa” will most likely be labeled a terrorist organization and anyone with any-fascist opinions will be forced to live in fear or thrown in jail. Think it won’t happen? They have been doing this to black people for years. It is so easy for the news to “other” protesters and the homeless, especially people of color and immigrants. People will be forced to squat to escape the elements because they cannot camp, then thrown in jail. The media already has a storyline going about “ squatters” and the brave people that fight them. Don’t forget a second think that the people that own most of the world are stupid. They got where they are through control, and if you do not think they have control, you are an idiot.
Liichei@reddit
Not really on the global level, at least not here in Croatia - while in the past HDZ (the ~~criminal organization~~ ruling party for most of the country's existence on country level, and for all of country's existence in some locales) was temporarily booted out of power when they've fucked up enough (in 2000. following Tuđman's death and his policies that had lead the country to the low-level international isolation and the economy to ruin, and in 2011. when the economic crisis of 2008.-~2015. was on its peak and PM before the PM who lost election fled the country and was subsequently arrested for a lot of corruption charges), in this year's election, despite massive turnout and dissatisfaction with the effects of inflation on average person, their handling of Zagreb and Banija earthquakes, their complete disregard for the law, and the fact that almost everyone who has been in a position of government minister since HDZ's return to power in 2015. has some sort of (usually corruption) scandal behind them (not to mention how many people got booted out of their positions as government ministers, 20+ so far, plus several arrests) HDZ won.
It wasn't a smooth victory, but a coalition one, but the small coalition partner party already both split up into several parts and is in the process of being subsumed back into HDZ.
They have utter disregard for the law and the people of this country, and yet they'll most likely remain in power for the rest of existence of this country, no matter how the situation deteriorates.
Blarn-hr@reddit
Funny you should mention this, the minister in charge of health was literally arrested today
Postcrapitalism@reddit
Democrats are doomed because they cannot fulfill the role people demand of them. Voters reasonably expect the opposing party to the republicans to institute massive environmental protections, socialize healthcare, oppose militarism, etc. but their reliance on corporate funding prevents them from doing those things.
As a result, they are doomed. Not because they’re taking the fall for republican incomptence, but because no one shows up to vote for Republicans Lite in a contest with Republicans.
Different-Library-82@reddit
These dynamics are present, yet different in multiparty systems, where a likely consequence is that more voters gravitate away from the ruling parties in the centre and towards smaller parties that are less status quo oriented.
And in that fracturing I'm also expecting that more people than usual will vote on newly established parties that attempt to challenge the established parties on issues they think are important.
We're seeing this in Norway, Labour has declined from being the largest party as a matter of course, not least thanks to adopting neoliberal politics in the 90s and utterly failing in initiating traditional labour policies to combat rising food prices and cost of living, citing the sanctity of the market. Smaller parties have made gains, and the arithmetics of parliament could make them crucial for a majority government - though minority governments aren't unheard of in Norway.
Most notable on the fringe right now is the new "Industry and Business Party" that in some ways are challenging both the traditional ruling parties (Labour and the Conservative party) and I'd describe it as aggressively "business as usual" with a protectionist element. They are not yet in parliament, but they might possibly get one or a few representatives in the next election. And a reminder that a lot of people will insist that we should try to keep the current global machine running for as long as possible, because they can't accept that it is collapsing.
Expert_Tea_5484@reddit
Even in the UK where we're arguably under a voting system believed to always coalesce to a two-party system from an academic viewpoint (first past the post) we're actually now seeing support for the two "main" parties decline and multiple parties on either "side" of the political spectrum are picking up this support which is encouraging as we haven't (yet) seen the growth of the far-right party in the UK to the same extent in other countries, and at least among young people (especially women, but also men) are seeing quite a bit of growth for our most left-wing party - which in the UK is the Green Party, who are an actually serious party here (unlike in the US) and do a lot of work between general election which has seen the make massive gains in terms of their number of local councillors over the last 5 years
Ok_Impression5805@reddit
I agree, I think representative democracy has had it, the two models that would be stable going forward are direct democracy/anarchism or totalitarian fascism. Either everyone has a voice or nobody does.
Cease-the-means@reddit
Rubbish. Can you imagine what living in a fully representative democracy would be like? Every waking moment of every day would have to be constant debates and votes about every little fucking thing. Nobody would ever be able to make any decisions, because that would require someone to be selected to be able to, even when not everyone agrees. Which is representative democracy.
This guy is an absolute madman and I don't agree on everything he says, but on this he is absolutely right. https://youtu.be/jaCOof5nL3M
People don't want that. They want efficient bureaucracy to run most things and then the possibility to complain when things go wrong.
Expert_Tea_5484@reddit
Liechtenstein is actually a pretty interesting example of a relatively well functioning country which has implemented a very strong form of direct democracy alongside also having an elected legislature. They both have an elected legislature and if called for by 1000 citizens a referendum on any law can be held - including on suspending parliament or on amending the constitution, although in these two latter cases a quorum of voters must actually take part in the referendum for the result to count
Ok_Impression5805@reddit
I don't think you know the difference between direct and representative democracy.
CyroSwitchBlade@reddit
I live in South Korea and I have noticed that the president here can only be in office for 1 5 year term.
There is a certain benefit to this in that they do not need to spend any of their time or effort to campaign for a second election while in office.
This constant campaigning that seems to just go on and on for every politician in the United States looks like it is just a huge distraction from what their actual jobs are supposed to be.
jetstobrazil@reddit
Dude they’re just going to take the resources. It isn’t going to be ‘terms’
Crow_Nomad@reddit
Expand your view. Everybody is doomed...left, right, fascist, woke, democracy, dictatorship...whatever. There is no-one to blame but ourselves. WE screwed this planet up because of our greed, selfishness and stupidity. The blame game is bullshit and a total waste of time.
Stop kidding yourselves. It's OVER. Get used to it.
unigrampa@reddit
Democrats message is the solution, but they fail to deliver because the donors incentivize them not to. They appear the solution, while on practice hardly being. This failure and weakness also leads to their downfall.
Hot_Gurr@reddit
I think we’re going to have a permanent republican supermajority because the housing crisis in blue states is going to make them lose seats in the electoral college.
Fiddle_Dork@reddit
The time is ripe for new parties to emerge but the US is set up specifically to prevent it
Classic-Progress-397@reddit
The US will not have a rotating government from here in... it's GOP for as far as the eye can see. Elections that give different results will be discredited.
Consider Putin. No matter how hard it gets in Russia, he will win every single election in a landslide.
Fiddle_Dork@reddit
Sounds like you have TDS...
Imsomniland@reddit
Sorry, we can't hear you when you're deepthroating that boot.
Fiddle_Dork@reddit
🙄🙄🙄
Classic-Progress-397@reddit
Nice handle... was Diddle Dork already taken?
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Fiddle_Dork@reddit
Diddle_Fork is what I was after, actually
God you TDS mouthbreathers even suck at wordplay
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transplantpdxxx@reddit
Putin was hand selected by the U.S. Whenever people shit on Putin, I beg them to know literally any history. The U.S. created modern Russia so any criticism of Russia (valid) needs to include our hubris.
Classic-Progress-397@reddit
Who fucking cares, bub? Do you think your main character take is worth anything here?
No matter where you are, big money fucked you over, and will continue to do so, until people get angry enough.
transplantpdxxx@reddit
lol. I knew you were cooking up the dumbest post. Not a single factual rebuttal just crying and farting.
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cathartis@reddit
Source?
transplantpdxxx@reddit
Yeltsin was a western puppet who setup Putin’s ascent.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskARussian/s/wg4Fu76X9k
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Yeltsin
Control F Putin on the second one.
You think the U.S. spent trillions to win the Cold War then just left them alone? Thanks cute. We have interfered in western countries with much lower stakes.
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cathartis@reddit
Your articles don't support the point you are trying to make. In the first article the OP merely states that "This diplomatic rapport raised suspicions among those who believed Yeltsin might have been influenced by Western powers". Hardly definitive. Raising suspicions is not proof, and influence is not control. And the highest voted response argues that he was not a western agent.
The second article merely states that Yeltsin selected Putin as his successor. But without evidence that the West had sufficient control of Yeltsin to influence such a decision that's pretty meaningless. Nor do you even attempt to explain why the West would want Putin in charge - if they had any choice I suspect they'd want someone more malleable.
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SanityRecalled@reddit
Come on, elections in Russia are totally fair. The people just really love Putin!
06210311200805012006@reddit
Not quite, but soon. We're not hungry enough yet.
Masterventure@reddit
But what good will it be? First of all to even help at all new political movements would need to end the current „profit motive over everything“ core of all politics.
Which is almost impossible without civilizational collapse removing ton of entrenched power brokers, I think.
And even then. The only viable solution to most problems related to collapse is a willing reduction of lifestyle. I don’t think people will ever in the majority stand for that. Especially when we aren’t unified and people flaunt excess in their faces.
travellingandcoding@reddit
Collapse is a global predicament. Good luck asking the poor countries (let alone the poor citizens of rich countries) to forgo fossil fuel based development when many people don't even have access to electricity.
06210311200805012006@reddit
None of it will do any good. Collapse is locked in, and it is being driven by forces greater than any political movement or nation.
Big_Brilliant_3343@reddit
Its just the death throes of a system. We swing wildly to the right, then to the left. Scared mammals are stupid and will go back and forth without understanding what's happening. Scared mammals are also bastards and will cause unnecessary violence.
DarthKushHybrid@reddit
See my post on how the system is outright rigged against third parties. I mention the DNC here but the GOP is just as much an architect and enforcer of this system, choosing to direct their antipathy against conservative third party movements.
https://www.reddit.com/r/RFKJrForPresident/comments/1fqrmgk/they_rigged_it_they_are_rigging_it_and_they_will/
Fiddle_Dork@reddit
Yes it absolutely is. It will take crisis conditions to overcome the duopoly
forthewatch39@reddit
It doesn’t help that those other parties are just grifting and never try to elevate themselves. Imagine if the Green and Libertarian parties actually worked to get members elected to Congress. Getting over a dozen would definitely make them be visible and actually force change. But they don’t actually do that. They just seem to show up during the presidential elections every four years and maybe take tepid chances in the midterms.
rainydays052020@reddit
Really rich to call third parties grifters when the corporate duopoly keeps selling the people out.
forthewatch39@reddit
They may all be crooks, but the duopoly actually plays to win. The third parties only show up every few years to remind people they are around, collect some money and then disappear until the next cycle. They could put more focus on fielding strong candidates for seats in Congress.
Fiddle_Dork@reddit
Yes agree that third parties should be making inroads at lowest levels of government. Libertarians are pretty good at it (ugh). However, ballot access laws make things unfairly difficult
bluebellmilk@reddit
why would they bother when the entire systems rigged? you have to understand, the funding liberals and conservatives get is from the SAME PEOPLE
forthewatch39@reddit
That kinda proves my point more on them being grifters. If the system is rigged and they aren’t making any actual plans to truly get in the door, then wouldn’t that mean they are by definition grifters?
rainydays052020@reddit
That implies they make money off of campaigns which they don’t. PACs and Citizens United prevent small parties from having enough funding to ever make a dent.
whereismysideoffun@reddit
There will never be any of party in federal power besides the Republicans. They have all branches of government. They are no longer the neo-con Repubs but are owned by Maga. Normalcy bias says things will be fine, but this is the speeding up of collapse. We can trust the coming American Peristroika will descend into kleptocracy much like Russia. There will be nothing left to.salvage of the burned out she'll of a house after they are done with it. Collapse is being speed run.
therelianceschool@reddit
Another word for this is catabolic capitalism.
Armouredmonk989@reddit
I site the protests in Spain because of the government's handling of the catastrophic floods but what can the government's do when the climate has collapsed
Expert_Tea_5484@reddit
Except that the party in charge of that region, who the protests were against, is not a part of the left-wing (incumbent) coalition that is in national government in Spain. If anything these protests are more likely to swing support in that area away from the right-wing opposition party and toward the parties currently in national government further cementing support for them.
Armouredmonk989@reddit
Didn't know that thanks for correcting me.
Shoddy-Childhood-511@reddit
Inflation should trend upwards in particular..
Lotka's wheel and the long arm of history: how does the distant past determine today's global rate of energy consumption? by Timothy J. Garrett, Matheus R. Grasselli, and Stephen Keen
https://esd.copernicus.org/articles/13/1021/2022/esd-13-1021-2022.html
https://x.com/nephologue/status/1537848501643579392
hiways@reddit
I just blasted a woman for saying look at those red meat prices while saying, "See, this is because of Trump! Take that Biden!" Like what? I tried to explain that's not how it works and Biden is still in office. But ended up with "and maybe if you came out from under that rock more often you'd understand!" 🤦🏻♀️
Substantial-Hold6273@reddit
The best way to convey to an american the state of their democracy is to compare it with a car.
Would you rather be riding in a Tesla or stay in your Ford model T ?
A_e_t_h_a@reddit
you underestimate the ability of people to blame "the invisible enemy" or some other scapegoat
quandrum@reddit
I think democracies will always collapse as long as they are process democracies but not result democracies.
That is there is a democratic process you can participate in, but the actual government mostly do things people don't approve of and rarely does things people do approve of. It's too easy to get people to vote against their best interests when they're voting for a person and not an outcome.
I think this only happens without radically rethinking democracy and people's roles, and I don't really have an answer.
missinglabchimp@reddit
I do agree that besides bad actors, there seems to be an inherent structural flaw in the democratic system. Perhaps because it nearly always resolves to a two-horse race, it gives the illusion of a false choice, then all you can do is keep flipping the switch.
However, this election is the acid test for people who don't vote because it's Coke vs Pepsi, or Harris Gaza protestors or whatever. If you couldn't see any difference between dems and cons this time then you deserve everything you're about to get.
Beautiful_Tour9647@reddit
How many civilians in Gaza would it take for you to care? (Pretend they're white, we both know that matters to you)
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Bormgans@reddit
It doesn´t resolve nearly always to a 2 horse race. There are plenty of European countries with 3, 4 or 5 parties of about the same weight, and a bunch of smaller ones.
Expert_Tea_5484@reddit
Even in FPTP electoral systems it was/is believed that overtime things will trend to become a dominant 2-party system. However, in the UK we're now seeing support for the "main" two parties crumble and split between multiple parties. Rather than support coalescing between 2 or 3 of the parties it's diverging and a lot of the smaller parties are now growing in the UK - even under FPTP.
Frog_and_Toad@reddit
The US election showed that representative democracy works. Trump represents the essence of America. a loudmouth bully who has no moral code, purely transactional, no long term planning.
Trump is the id of America. Created by America, for America. Leading the kleptocracy into the future.
missinglabchimp@reddit
I hear you. That line from the Depeche Mode song hits different now: "People are people so why should it be / you and I should get along so awfully"
Have you met people lately?
Vulmathrax@reddit
Not if dems just never vote again.
Fruhmann@reddit
This is fine. No more incumbents doesn't seem that bad.
Wild-Lengthiness2695@reddit
During Covid the UK re-elected the current political party.
2025Champions@reddit
I’ll file this under non-USA problems
YaroGreyjay@reddit
Cute you think there is still a democracy
MaterialWishbone9086@reddit
Does this really matter if both parties are effectively the same?
dumnezero@reddit
You reminded me of an animation from Moby's "In This Cold Place", animated by Steve Cutts: https://youtu.be/vmi-MtP969M?t=97 (a very collapse clip)
Sasquatch97@reddit
In a way this may be for the best.
Only when it is shown that politics/governments are powerless to fix the systemic predicaments that we face can we move forward with real change.
In my mind the only real solution is some variant of communal degrowth, probably with permaculture and doomsteads. Cities are based on surplus energy and goods and when those go away people will have to regroup.
Maybe we have 10-15 years to make changes. Maybe we have already run out of time. Hindsight will be 20/20.
ChromaticStrike@reddit
This is wrong, unless France doesn't count as such.
thenecrosoviet@reddit
Well it's a good thing bourgeois democracy is a farce (for the bourgeoisie)
tnich1984@reddit
Maybe that'll increase the likelihood that an independent will pick up enough steam to upset both major parties.
ImTheTractorbeam@reddit
It’s cute that you think there will be elections 🙂↔️
voice-of-reason_@reddit
No they won’t because fascists will use the collapse to seize power and remove the democratic process.
In other words: it’s even worse than why you’re saying.
Look at the USA: “you won’t have to vote after 2024” - paraphrase of the new president elect.
BTRCguy@reddit
Democracies are doomed ~~to have single term governments going forward as the voters will blame the one in power for the ongoing collapse~~
FTFY
Less snarkily, crises tend to make governments consolidate power and demonstrate that everything you thought was a "right" was merely a "conditional privilege".
Expert_Tea_5484@reddit
The Mexican 2024 election re-elected their incumbent left-wing government with a much greater majority deemed a landslide. The Spanish 2023 election resulted in the left-wing coalition government retaining power, and the main party in the coalition retaining about the same level of support as the previous election.
The "trend" of incumbents being voted out in recent years definitely doesn't hold-up across all western democracies as msm wants us to believe. It seems as though they are willfully ignoring that incumbent left-wing governments have retained (or in the case of Mexico, greatly increased) their support.
BTRCguy@reddit
Would you consider the current Mexican government to have a good track record of guaranteeing rights, being transparent and properly dealing with bad actors within its ranks who act illegally against average citizens?
If not, then they aren't really a good rebuttal to my comment about governments under stress consolidating power and reducing rights, a comment which was agnostic about the political leanings of that government. Authoritarian tendencies are not restricted to the right-wing.
Rossdxvx@reddit
Well, this is why you end up with autocracy and totalitarianism. There won't be a revolving door. They will just force us to submit to more of the same status quo whether we like it or not.
Keeping the illusion of democracy alive may lull the masses to sleep for only so long. I truly believe that we are on our way to having the mask ripped off completely. Everything has already been moved into place and set up to quash mass dissent.
D00mfl0w3r@reddit
Don't worry we won't have them for long. Soon it will all be plutocracy.
This_Entrance6629@reddit
There will be no more elections.
Praxistor@reddit
As fear increases people will clutch their pearls, and that means authoritarianism
huehuehuehuehuuuu@reddit
Yep democracies losing stability will hurl towards authoritarianism and tribalism. As would other forms of government.
At our roots we are violent scared monkeys, and Mother Nature too long abused will return us to our roots.
lowrads@reddit
People only bother to maintain things that are useful to them.
Longjumping-Path3811@reddit
The republicans will never allow an election again.
OuterLightness@reddit
True. Those in power can’t risk losing power and going to jail.
OctopusIntellect@reddit
Ironically enough, that's the exact same problem Julius Caesar had - can't relinquish power because that means you can be prosecuted. And that's what led to the end of the original republic, the Roman one.
Johnny55@reddit
There is zero risk of that. The "opposition" hired Merrick Garland to do nothing for years after an attempted coup and is complicit in war crimes by aiding Netanyahu. The Democrats wore Dick Cheney's endorsement as a badge of honor, they're not going to prosecute anything the GOP fascists do
OuterLightness@reddit
I said “those in power.” I didn’t mean Republicans or Democrats. I definitely didn’t mean the people.
automaticfiend1@reddit
They will, modern dictatorships try to maintain an illusion of democracy and the US has too long of a democratic tradition to just end elections without major unrest. But the act of having an election doesn't make one democratic if the result is predetermined.
GardenRafters@reddit
You must not be paying attention OP. Things have changed. If you think the NuGOP is going to give up power through a free and fair election I've got some bad news for you
BTRCguy@reddit
Grand Moff Tarkin: The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us. I've just received word that the Emperor has dissolved the council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.
Cease-the-means@reddit
It's a weird world when the old style of republicans end up being one of the good guys..
InvertedDinoSpore@reddit
Unless the incumbent is successfuly blaming and persecuting a scapegoat, or at war
petered79@reddit
this is why i expect a general ride in fascism, they offer "solutions" and always have a scapegoat
automaticfiend1@reddit
Ha. Republicans aren't leaving in the US.
SpaceCowboyBatman@reddit
Those mobile homes aren’t mobile.
bastardofdisaster@reddit
You are assuming there will still be meaningful elections.
leo_aureus@reddit
Conveniently enough for the people in charge, the people will not have to undergo the burden of voting any longer!
Frog_and_Toad@reddit
A lot of people will be ok with that. Then they can blindly follow orders without any personal responsibility.
Expert_Tea_5484@reddit
It isn't all of the most recent elections in western democracies it's just that mainstream media usually fail to highlight examples where it doesn't occur as in those cases the policies of the incumbent party who increased their support aren't the policies supported by msm. The left-wing alliance in Mexico for example was the incumbent government in the 2024 elections and support for them massively increased and they obtained a landslide.
Nadie_AZ@reddit
Um, you realize that they don't care about the climate any more than the GOP does? There is no savior in the democratic party that will magically do anything to help. They are captured by fossil fuel company interests the same as the GOP. They just lie about it better.
NoExternal2732@reddit