Liberal Democracy - what's at stake

“Then as today, the world torn apart… In such times the problems of life merge for man into a single problem: How can I remain free?” 

- Stefan Zweig, 1941

It merits repeating and comprehending during these fraught times, what's at stake: Liberal Democracy is the only truly legitimate form of governance. It's the only form of government designed to protect the rights of individuals. And if you believe that the rights of the individual, to speak, to think, to believe whatever he/she may choose, and to pursue whatever path to fulfillment and contentment he/she decides in life, is the essence of life, then you are committed to the principles of liberal democracy. 

Liberal democracy protects the rights of individuals through the mechanism of consent of the governed by free and fair elections. Every other known form of governance protects the rights and interests of either certain privileged groups, or certain privileged individuals (monarchy, autocracy, oligarchy, theocracy, plutocracy etc.) over the general population. 

The ultimate litmus test of legitimacy of any sovereign political entity is the question of when to go to war, because going to war entails the ultimate sacrifice - one's life. Only a liberal democracy can claim to provide adequate consent for the potential sacrifice of the lives of citizens. Only the governed are in a position to be able to decide when making the ultimate sacrifice is warranted for political reasons. This is one of the main reasons democracies do not go to war with each other.  

Another reason is free enterprise. Liberal democracies embrace principles of private ownership and trade. Countries that trade with one another build mutual economic interests, and tend to foster similar values. Even countries that purport to represent different systems of government, will over time, if not philosophically, then for all practical purposes, pursue many of the same values. Take China for example. As it traded globally and increased its economic ties to the west, western values necessarily began to permeate Chinese culture and society to the point where today China is a vastly different country from the rigid one born out of Mao’s cultural revolution only a few decade ago. This does not mean that China will never revert back to more authoritarian tactics, as growth from free enterprise begins to decline, but the link is clear, trade integration tends to promote a harmonization of values, and more international harmony in general. 

The development and spread of liberal democracy has been the most potent and universally beneficial revolution in human history. Unlike other failed political revolutions - think of 20th century communism (Russia), fascism (Germany) or theocracy (Iran) -  the liberal democratic revolution has cost relatively few lives, endured longer and spread wider than any of them. Liberal democracy has proven flexible and durable, because it responds to people where they live first and foremost, as individuals, not as members of a tribe, a party, a group, a religion etc. It allows individuals to pursue their individual paths of fulfillment based on their individual desires, qualities, talents and skills. This does not mean that individuals can not find fulfillment by identifying as members of one or more groups. People need to have a sense of belonging. However, groups do not possess rights. Thinking so is the foundation for tyranny. Rights are the exclusive purview of individuals - whether people identify as part of the minority or the majority. Liberal democratic institutions by definition must protect the rights of all individuals equally, and not favour some individuals because they identify with one group or another.   

Liberal democracy is based on a social pact of mutual agreement and trust. When there is an epidemic of distrust in society, liberal democracy becomes threatened. When people don't believe that institutions protect their individual rights and freedoms, they naturally retreat into groups in order to better exercise raw power. A kind of factionalism ensues and politics becomes a battle between groups, because when there is a sense of disorder and threat, there is safety in numbers. This is the reason that anti-democratic politicians gin up distrust, fear and threat in order to achieve their personal (or group) political objectives. 

A word on the international system. The United Nations was founded on liberal democratic principles, as expressed in and embodied by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is a privilege, not a right, to be a member of the institutions that constitute the international community. The UN can expel members, although it has never done so. Member states who fail to uphold liberal democratic principles should not be treated as equal global citizens.