The United States Summit for Democracy will be held virtually this week. 110 countries have been invited for the event that will take place on December 9 and 10, 2021. Apparently, the list of invited countries does not include Russia and China.
The summit comes at the background of what analysts have called backsliding democracy and the willingness of the democratic leadership in Washington to revive a dying idea under the slogan, “Strengthen our democratic institutions, honestly confront the challenge of nations that are backsliding, and forge a common agenda to address threats to our common agenda to address threats to our common values”.
The idea, borne at a time of transition between administrations in the US – the autocratic-friendly Donald Trump government was replaced by Joe Biden ‘democratic’ Washington – was opposed by various actors at conception. Foreign Affairs published a critique on December 14, 2020 arguing thus:
“The United States would be better served by focusing its attention on the smaller groupings of democratic allies and partners that already exist and by revitalizing its own instruments for promoting democracy and human rights – as well as by recognising that, with respect to democracy, the most important task for the United States is to rebuild norms and institutions at home”.
Well, it’s obvious this advice hit a stonewall. The summit is here and countries in East Africa led by Kenya will be represented. Unfortunately, a simple search on the internet brings out coverage only by international media. This is yet to register locally or maybe it is being treated like an American affair here.
Journalists could answer a few questions: Is Kenya participating? Who will represent her and what is their brief? Will the country’s preparedness for the 2022 General Election form part of the conversations?
Coincidentally, an interesting but intrinsically relevant report was published by IDEA – International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. A cursory look at the report shows some grammatical errors indicative of a rushed process: To coincide with the Summit?
The report, titled The Global State of Democracy 2021 – Building Resilience in a Pandemic Era, records a gloomy picture of democracy across the globe, with many countries backsliding and the quality of democracy on offer being on a downward spiral.
“This is a story in which democracies are being weakened because the underlying polis—without which no set of democratic institutions is durable—is being rent asunder by different forces, from the polarization nurtured by social media and disinformation to grotesque levels of economic inequality. It is also a tale in which democracies are hollowed out by the citizens’ loss of faith in the ability of democratic institutions to respond to social demands and solve problems, as well as by the toxic disease of corruption, which demolishes any semblance of trust.”
The report goes on to examine the grotesque role played by the pandemic in making the realisation of democratic governance post-Trump state a daunting task, with many countries across the globe retrogressing. This is a publication that must be read by every journalist, opponents and proponents of democracy out there.
Besides, there is an interesting sub-section on Chapter Five, page 31 christened – The weakening of media integrity. This section summarises, by providing concrete evidence, the challenges facing media today. Some of the factors highlighted include intractable crisis in traditional media, anchored in declining advertising revenue, increasing media ownership concentration, the rise of free-to-access online media, the pre-eminent role of social media debates in setting the agenda, and the proliferation of disinformation.
It is a robust report. The last one was released in 2019 before the pandemic. It provides interesting country-specific indicators regarding various aspects of democracy that can form critical literature for media to engage with on the eve of the democratic summit and as the country prepares for the 2022 General Elections.
Let’s read and if you are looking for a PDF copy, get in touch with The Media Observer team.
