Longing for a ‘strong leader’

In 1959, Whittaker Chambers thought democracy was finished. After decades of heavy involvement with the Communist Party (card-carrying member, no less), he converted to Christianity and testified against high-ranking State Department official Alger Hiss, another Communist. Chambers did not see the conviction and life-sentencing of Hiss as a victory, for Communism was stretching its tentacles into every continent and would most likely make good on its promise to conquer the world.

Only 30 years later, public policy analyst Francis Fukuyama published his famous paper “The End of History,” making the bold claim that history was over because democracy had conclusively proven itself the superior system of government. With jubilant East Germans waving flags on the rubble of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union shedding breakaway republics like a rotting corpse, democracy was on the march.

Now Fukuyama admits he might have spoken hastily. In 1989 hardly anyone foresaw the rise of militant Islam or the authoritarian overreach of the European Union. And no one could have predicted the 2016 general election, where the “popular vote” served up the two most unpopular major-party candidates in history. The theme of “brokenness” intensifies in every election cycle: Congress, courts, electoral process, federalism, and every “system” within the democratic system—whatever it is, someone claims it’s broken. Fixing what’s broken is every candidate’s pledge, though they differ on how. But is democracy itself worth fixing?

A staggering 1 in 6 Americans agrees it would be a good thing for ‘the army’ to take over in times of unrest.

The World Values Survey, a European global research project published every five years, turned up some troubling indicators in its latest sweep of opinions about government. Among all age groups, but especially the young, the WVS records a decline in support for democracy. These numbers, the authors are careful to note, do not reflect disappointment that the system hasn’t lived up to its promise. Rather, respondents don’t seem to know what the promise is. The survey also reveals a cavalier attitude toward civil rights and free speech, disengagement from politics in general, and (this is especially puzzling) an inclination toward authoritarianism. A staggering 1 in 6 Americans agrees it would be a good thing for “the army” to take over in times of unrest—or maybe just any time. A similar slice of the European population favors a “strong leader who doesn’t have to bother with parliament and elections.” The notion of turning policy decisions over to “experts” appeals to sizable minorities on both sides of the Atlantic.

Democracy doesn’t always equal freedom—people can vote for bondage as easily as liberty. But where democracy declines, so does freedom. And vice versa. Why, after the defeat of Communism within living memory, are supposedly free people flirting with the empty suit so easily filled by similar authoritarian systems?

I’ve been having an online discussion with a progressive friend about religious liberty. Over and over the question comes up: Why can’t we settle ideological disputes among ourselves? Why do we have to resort to the courts? To my friend, that’s what the courts, and government in general, are for: to draw sharp lines where my liberty ends and her rights begin. But to me, the government of a free people is a creative project; those lines are blurred by the people themselves. The more we look out for each other, the freer we are, to walk the streets at night or start a business or manage our own finances.

It seems the more a society achieves self-determination, the more each self-determined individual hugs autonomy to himself. The more autonomy, the more fragmentation, for everyone has his or her own idea of “what’s right for me (and what I need to achieve it).”

If the World Values Survey is an accurate snapshot of what the Western world is thinking, it shows how a civilization collapses upon itself. When individuals cut their attachments to each other and reattach to the government, the only direction is down. We might call it the Law of Reverse Autonomy: The more you cling to autonomy, the less you have, because faith is replaced by fear. It’s not democracy we’ve lost faith in; it’s ourselves.

Email jcheaney@wng.org