Summit for Democracy 2023

Once again the US has played host to a Summit for Democracy. Last year they held the World Movement for Democracy in Taiwan, an island declared by the Economist's Intelligence Unit to be Asia's top democracy, which was something of a surprise. Because for quite a long time, Taiwan has been firmly commited to an authoritarian system of extended penalties, mass incarcerations and extra-judicial murders. And just a few years ago, the media were carrying headlines such as "Taiwan politicians exchange punches and throw pig guts in parliament debate over US pork". This is perhaps why the 2023 summit was held mostly online and, to give more US friends a fair crack at the whip, was co-hosted by five countries: the US, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Republic of Korea and Republic of Zambia.

"This is a turning point for our world toward greater freedom, greater dignity and greater democracy," said Biden at the summit. But such a remark raises questions. In fact, most Americans believe that US democracy is failing. According to a survey by Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan American fact tank, up to 85% of respondents felt the US is in urgent need of reform or major changes.

Not only in the US, V-Dem, a Swedish based think tank, creates an annual report on the state of democracy. Their 2022 report agrees with Biden that the world is turning. But it is turning away from Liberal Democracies into Autocracies. What their findings demonstrate is that one of the leading countries in that trend is the US itself.

It's fair to say that the world democracy is at a turning point, but it shouldn't be about leading its "democratic partners" in a global call to strategically compete with China to Build Back a Better World (B3W); it shouldn't be about imposing sanctions on Cuba for 29 consecutive years though voted against by almost the entire UN community; it shouldn't be about announcing its greatest threat comes from Domestic Violent Extremists. The meaning of democracy needs redefining: it doesn't just mean elections where people vote; it means collaboration between government and people so they don't need to resort to violence; it means people having some say in what their government does and the directions it takes so people see results; it means government constantly improve the lives of its people; and, importantly, it means government accountability to the people, not to corporations which can afford to buy democracy. So if what Joe Biden meant is that more countries should pursue US style democracy, then their annual summits are going to be seen for what they are: time-wasting, virtue-signaling, talk-fests?