Autocracy

Around the world democratic governments are being replaced by autocrats. Once confined to regimes in Russia, China and the Middle East, autocrats now rule in Turkey, Poland, Hungary, the USA and elsewhere. Anyone seeking an explanation need look no further than the slogan first used in 1970 on a poster to promote the first Earth Day: “We have met the enemy and he is us”.

How do autocrats come to power in western democracies? Friedrich Hayek provided an explanation as long ago as 1944 in his book The Road to Serfdom.

Liberal democracies promote individual freedoms. The more we pursue those freedoms the more our views and tastes become differentiated and the less likely we are to agree on values and objectives. The corollary of this is that in order to reach a broad consensus on any issue it is easiest to descend to the lowest common denominator that unites the largest group of people. Autocrats focus on this lowest common denominator in order to form their base of support.

Having formed a base, the autocrat seeks to enlarge it by obtaining the support of those “who have no strong convictions of their own but are prepared to accept a ready-made system of values if only it is drummed into their ears sufficiently loudly and frequently” (Hayek, op. cit. p 160).

Finally, the autocrat creates a schism between “us” and “them” by identifying an enemy or outside group against which the expanded base can be galvanized into action. This “indispensable tool” provides the autocrat with almost limitless power, since fear of an enemy induces the sleep of reason.

To counter autocracy, liberal democracies must ensure that there is a broad consensus around a highest common denominator. Its citizens must recognize the preeminence of respect for diversity, equality of opportunity and a distributive justice that leaves no one homeless or hungry or ignorant or unemployable. Above all, we must resist being directed against an artificial enemy, because “We have met the enemy and he is us”.

Alan Whiteley