In Montesquieu’s famous work ‘Lettres Persanes’ (trans. Persian Letters), two travellers, Usbek and Rica, coming from a background of quiet, prosperous royalty, expressed a profound need to move further away from it in order to explore and gather a greater amount of knowledge. If one reads through the French Literature of the 18th century enlightenment period, the ardency of these two travellers could be interpreted in the argument that in order to comprehend our own surroundings better, we need to go beyond it and analyse it from an objective view, so to speak. Only then will it be possible for us to improve what we blindly praise.
As renowned Harvard Professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (who are extraordinarily well versed with regards to the arguments that they put forward in the new book Tyranny of the Minority: How to Reverse An Authoritarian Turn and Forge a Democracy for All) speak of an almost ideal form of democracy and the manner in which diverse counter-majoritarian policies in America are backfiring, thus deteriorating the very idea of a democratic institution, I am again reminded of Montesquieu.
The crux of the argument posed by the writers of this book perpetually leads me to a particular conclusive question. Figuratively moving away from my own sub-continent, what can the contemporary American political scenario, or many other democracies have spoken of in this spectacular reading, teach me about my own country? In order to answer, it is essential to understand the authors’ take on American democracy itself.
A Tyrannical Minority Rule In America
As Levitsky and Ziblatt reiterate across all chapters within the book, American Democracy has reached a certain point where, in terms of political power, the majorities have been under such a severe system of checks and balances that this has established a tyrannical minority rule within the country. A minority of white supremacists and conservative mindsets. The core of the situation lies in the past.
As has been discussed in the book, “Democracy needs rules that limit the power of majorities.” These rules were made during a period when the American nation consisted of an immense majority of whites, and racist ideology loomed across everyday life (not that it is gone now). At such times, limiting the power of the majority to such an extent was important. As a result, policies were forged.
One of the examples of the same can be brought forward from the very recent past ‘when [in 2022] the senate fell far short in a rushed effort towards enshrining Roe v. Wade abortion access as federal law, blocked by a Republican filibuster.’ A filibuster, as has been explained in the book, is ‘a supermajority rule in the Senate that allows a partisan minority to permanently block legislation backed by the majority (Levitsky and Ziblatt, p148).
This may seem to be a very thoughtful rule for a constitution that indeed believes in providing equality of opinion to all political parties. However, we can clearly see in the above case how the filibuster in 2022 eventually attacked women’s reproductive rights. Why did this happen? In front of the present population, marked by growing numbers of immigrants, blacks, as well as a certain proportion of the white population that acknowledges its privilege and strives for equality across racial and sexual barriers, these rules are fettering the wrong majority.
There is a sequence of outcomes to this repression of the majority. Levitsky and Ziblatt have elaborated on the same in quite a fascinating manner, so much so that this book needs to be read by Indian politicians in order to understand the dangers of their own perspective towards democracy. As I move forward, I intend to explain the same.
The Path Towards A Healthy Democracy
Quite an important aspect of the issues that these authors have taken up is the fact that not only are they illuminating the kind of political circumstances their own country is facing, but they are also striving to provide a path towards a healthy democracy.
It is one of the most captivating aspects of this book as it makes an effort to provoke the reader to think about the loopholes in their own democracy, and this kind of criticism is important in an almost totalitarian regime that India is turning into. While minority rule of this kind is absolutely not the case in India right now, what inspired me to read and appreciate this book was what counter-majoritarianism and the nature of the parties involved in it could teach me as a conscious citizen.
One need not go further but look at how these political parties functioned, establishing an oppressive rule through minority victory and the psychology behind their attitudes. Can a comparative study of the contemporary political circumstances in America and India help us look at how the political parties strategize in order to manipulate the common masses? The writers of this book have done a fascinating job when it comes to my curiosities.
Sure, the white supremacists of America, a ‘minority’ are exploiting the constitutional acts to stay in power, Ziblatt and Levitsky emphasize the need to comprehend this urge to stay in power and how democracy, in many nations across the world, has become all about the exhilaration of being at power. The book presents a number of rules to understand the same.
As implicated by recounting a brief history of the Republican Party, one of the principal reasons why America is taking an authoritarian turn can be explained by how a losing politician reacts to defeat. Donald Trump is a perfect example to understand this. Not only did he deny his defeat, but the ex-president took several totalitarian steps, giving in to the temptation of power. There was no intention to analyze what the public really wanted and adapt to those demands. An overtly autocratic figure, Trump’s case raises concerns. Do we have to teach our politicians the acceptance of failure?
The writers have made an excellent and unique point of proving that, eventually, it is not about the winning party. It is about maintaining democracy and being loyal to the democratic institutions. However, this has not been the case. Not with America alone but in India as well.
“What the writer Barbara Ehrenreich called the ‘fear of failing’ can be a powerful force. When a political party represents a group that perceives itself to be losing ground, it often radicalizes. With their constituents’ way of life seemingly at stake, party leaders feel pressure to win at any cost. Losing is no longer acceptable.” (Levitsky and Ziblatt, p23-24)
In other words, one takes forward quite a repressive approach in order to stay in power. Somewhat similar to a Trumpian spirit, Indian politicians have also followed these desperate approaches. Brought forward in this book is the instance of Emergency in the Indian subcontinent.
In 1971, a political opponent had accused [Indira Gandhi] of using government resources to boost her campaigns…Gandhi and her aides had been contemplating some kind of power grabs for months…Ray settled on Article 352…allowing the government to declare a state of emergency suspending basic constitutional rights if India were threatened by…Internal disturbances. (Levitsky and Ziblatt, 56)
How to define this, if not as a radicalizing greed to cease power?
Loyalty To Democracy
While it may have happened in the past, present politicians haven’t learned from it. One of the major principles that have been advocated by the authors and is also a fair argument is the need to be ‘loyal’ to democracy. More importantly, this should be understandable owing to our past mistakes as a democratic country.
However, like many American politicians, the past decade has proven that the Indian government isn’t loyal to being democratic, being a government for the people. A government for the people would condemn members who oppressed them, taking away the rights they had as citizens of a supposedly empowered democracy. The fact that Indian wrestlers had to carry out a massive protest to have their allegations of sexual assault heard by the government proves the same.
Reading Tyranny of the Minority felt like understanding a foreign system and its violence of values that my own nation has been going against all along. Extraordinarily written, Steven Levitsky’s and Daniel Ziblatt’s voices are educative weapons to comprehend America beyond the obsession with the West and the American dream. The values in this book should be scrutinized in order to understand how our own democratic system functions and should function.
References:
Levitsky, Steven and Daniel, Ziblatt, Tyranny of the Minority: How to Reverse An Authoritarian Turn and Forge A Democracy for All, Penguin, 2023
https://apnews.com/article/abortion-biden-us-supreme-court-filibusters-congress-759beeba80ac56aa95271711a8e915da
The book has been published by Penguin Random House. You can follow Penguin on YKA here.