What are the causes of the democratic crisis? Speech text by Charline MARQUEZ, FENELON

Since the 1950s, we have managed to keep Europe more or less united. By working in the common interest, we have become ever more prosperous and we have avoided war. But, for how long can we keep it up?

To be part of the European Union, a nation has to respect the principle of popular sovereignty, that is: rule by the people. In one word: it has to be a democracy. The authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, through their elected representatives.

Churchill said that democracy “is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time”. Joking apart, democracy has been coming under serious attack over the past few years. Does this mean that “other forms” of government, less democratic ones, will be coming back soon? The democratic crisis is undermining the project of an ever more united Europe!

Let’s take a look at some of the causes of this democratic crisis...

Cause number 1: the state of the economy! Since 2008, European countries have still not managed to get rid of their public debt, resulting in poor economic performance, wage stagnation, high unemployment, and low job opportunities, especially for us, the new generation. Eurostat estimates that 16 million men and women in the EU-28 were unemployed in February 2019. There is strong economic disparity between the member states. We are much less competitive in the globalized economy.

Cause number 2: society is in a mess! There is social unrest everywhere in Europe. Even middle class people are moaning; they feel that they are not getting enough in exchange for the taxes they pay, that their purchasing power is less, that they are being prevented from earning a decent living, that the Government favors the 1%, etc. Judging from the statistics, people do seem unhappy: millions are suffering from burnout, and the suicide rate is increasing.  Isn’t it strange that people feel miserable and unsafe in the most prosperous continent in the world?

Cause number 3: representative democracy is not working! Many people, like the “yellow vests” in France, feel that politicians are incompetent and corrupt, that the authorities are inefficient and wasteful, that their elected representatives don’t listen to them, and that they are indifferent to their problems. More and more citizens are demanding a more participatory democracy because they no longer have faith in the representative democratic system. There have been street protests, sometimes very violent, against governments in, among other countries: Belgium, Serbia, Germany, The Netherlands, and of course France. Is this the beginning of civil war all over Europe?

Cause number 4: we have failed to help the refugees and migrants! European governments appear incapable of working together to manage the flow of migrants. Some countries have shut their borders, others have welcomed the migrants. The issue has shown up how weak European cooperation is!

Cause number 5: voter abstention! In the 2014 European Parliament elections, around 56% of voters in France and 83% of voters in Portugal didn’t bother to go and vote… So many people seem ignorant about or even disappointed in the EU. The institutions seem so distant from ordinary citizens! The European Parliament, the European Commission and all the other institutions don’t seem to realize that their survival depends on explaining better their relevance to ordinary citizens…

Will the fatal cocktail of despair, anger, ignorance, fear and megalomania that we witness every day finish off our democratic system?