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The Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Democracy Index 2016 report
is entitled “Revenge of the “deplorables”. The title captures what the
20
EIU terms as the “popular revolt against political elites who are
perceived by many to be out of touch and failing to represent the
interests of ordinary people”. The EIU Democracy Index 2017 shows a
21
decline of the democracy score of 89 countries, in all regions of the
world except North America, as compared with 2016; more than three
times countries whose scores have gone up. This reflects what has
been a significant long-term decline in popular trust in government
institutions, elected representatives, and political parties across a wide
range of countries. More fundamentally, it signals a global crisis of
democracy. Consistent with this, using World Values Survey, Roberto
Foa and Yascha Mounk show that belief in core tenets of liberal
democracy is in decline, especially among those born after 1980. 22

An important reason for this general decline in confidence in
democracy is economic. It is related to the Global Crisis of 2008 and
the prolonged economic slump that followed, leading to GDP
contractions, unemployment, income inequality, poverty, and the
Eurozone debt crisis. But its roots go back before the Crisis, for
example, to the stagnating real incomes, noted earlier. It also indicates
a growing disenchantment with economic globalization by a large
segment of the global population who feel they have not benefited, and
have been left behind.

The challenges of effective long-term economic strategies to
restore sustained economic growth and a related belief in continued
progress, has important implications for politics in Southeast Asia,
particularly for liberal democracy. This leads to the fifth and final
proposition.

20 The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2017. Democracy Index 2016: Revenge of
the “deplorables”. The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited.
21 The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2018. Democracy Index 2017: Free speech
under attack. The Economist Intellgicence Unit.
22 Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk, “The Democratic Disconnect”, Journal
of Democracy, July 2016, Volume 27, Number 3.

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