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Democracies are governed by governments that are legitimate under the constitutional process, though they may not command the support of a majority of the electorate. In many democracies, elections conducted according to established laws and procedures produce governments supported by only 30–40% of the votes cast. Such governments are entirely legitimate, yet they cannot be said to reflect the electoral preferences of the entire population.
Generation Z has grown up in a world where groceries arrive at the door in ten minutes, medicines are delivered within hours, and almost every service is available on demand. It is therefore natural that they expect governments to deliver policies and public services with similar speed and efficiency. These rising expectations have placed democracies around the world under increasing strain, as governance processes are, by design, slower, more consultative, and constrained by law than technology-driven private services.
The Trend
This week, Britain installed its seventh prime minister in barely a decade. France has churned through almost as many governments in just a few years, and its next president could well be the once-outcast Marine Le Pen. In Germany, the far-right AfD, a fringe party only a few years ago, now leads opinion polls.
Even East Asian democracies, often regarded as stable, cautious, and predictable, have witnessed growing political turbulence. Governments in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are facing increasing public dissatisfaction and political uncertainty.
Nor do systems with directly elected executives appear immune. In the United States, Donald Trump’s approval ratings have, at times, hovered near the lower end for modern presidents at comparable stages of their presidencies. Nearer home, student protests over the regulation and quality of the education system have posed a significant challenge for the Indian government. The pattern is difficult to ignore. Across diverse political systems, governments are finding it increasingly difficult to retain public confidence and sustain political stability.
Can modern democracies continue to function effectively under these pressures? The electorate is dissatisfied with the economy. Governments are often seen as taxing, borrowing, and spending heavily without delivering visible improvements in people’s daily lives. In some countries, government expenditure approaches half of GDP. Expensive housing, rising living costs, high fuel prices, stagnant incomes, and widening inequality have all fuelled public anger.
Yet economics is only part of the story. The United States has enjoyed stronger economic growth than most advanced economies. Under Emmanuel Macron, France reduced unemployment and attracted more foreign investment than any other European country for seven consecutive years, according to an Ernst & Young analysis. South Korea remains an economic success story. Japan has shown signs of renewed economic momentum. India has recorded steady growth in both GDP and per capita income in recent years. Yet, despite these achievements, democratic governments almost everywhere are struggling to retain public confidence.
Technology and Governance
The last great technological transformation of society occurred roughly between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Electricity, the telephone, railways, the automobile, and motion pictures transformed entire industries and ways of life. Millions migrated from rural areas to cities. Globalisation and expanding trade disrupted local economies. New fortunes were created almost overnight, while traditional occupations disappeared.
In this period of upheaval, frustration and insecurity found political expression. On the left, many were drawn to communism; on the right, others embraced fascism. The result was the rise of mass political movements, profound cultural upheavals, and ultimately, two world wars.
Our own technological revolution is digital rather than electrical. It began with computers, accelerated with the internet, and was transformed further by smartphones, social media, and now artificial intelligence. AI, in particular, may prove to be even more transformative than the technologies that preceded it. The large-scale production of intelligence may yet prove to be humanity’s greatest achievement in the foreseeable future.
Social media has widened the gap between public expectations and governmental capacity. Every governmental mistake becomes instantly visible. Every disappointment can become a viral controversy. Every frustrated citizen can mobilise thousands of others before governments have even begun to respond.
Social Effects
Such rapid and large-scale change inevitably creates anxiety. This may explain why, in many democracies today, politics appears to dominate public discourse more than economics, with citizens urging leaders to deliver faster and restore a sense of balance. Many people feel they are gradually losing control over their lives as technological and economic forces seem to move beyond their grasp.
Today, a taxi can be summoned in minutes, groceries arrive at the doorstep within hours, and almost every service is available on demand. It is therefore natural that people expect governments to deliver public services and policy outcomes with similar speed. Democracy, however, functions differently. It operates through built-in checks and balances—legislatures, courts, constitutions, a free media, and independent institutions. These safeguards are precisely what distinguish democracy from autocracy.
The contrast is evident in China’s rapid infrastructure and industrial development, where the time between conceiving a project and implementing it can be years shorter than in democracies such as India. Yet history also suggests that democracies have generally proved more resilient because they can learn, correct mistakes, and change course without resorting to violence or repression.
In democracies, power is gained through promises. Political leaders such as Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro, Javier Milei, and others rose to prominence by promising to cut through institutional gridlock and deliver faster results. Yet, once in office, most encountered the same institutional constraints that had limited the leaders they replaced.
The central question, therefore, is not whether democracies can hold elections, they clearly can. It is whether they can govern with the speed and effectiveness that technology has taught citizens to expect, while preserving the institutional safeguards that make democracy worth preserving.
(The author is an Indian Army veteran and a contemporary affairs commentator. The views are personal. He can be reached at kl.viswanathan@gmail.com )
Submitted by: Col KL Viswanathan (Retd)
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