In many democracies, incumbent governments have been overthrown or seen their support decline sharply in opinion polls. Why?
The past year has not been easy for our governments. François Legault and Justin Trudeau have fallen in the polls, voters in Manitoba have thrown the Conservatives out of power, and voters in Alberta have given them a dangerous warning shot.
In short, governments of all stripes in Canada have had a tough time this year. They are not the only ones.
Ruthless polls
Nowhere is the ennui more evident than in the United States, where voters who go to the trouble of answering polls ready to return to power appear to be stubborn liars, proven frauds, sexual assaulters, and would-be criminals.
Even if the Biden administration can pull the country out of a deep crisis and even if its Republican opponents have nothing concrete to offer, Democrats seem destined to suffer this disappointment in 2024.
In Germany, France and the United Kingdom, governments of the left, center and right respectively face the discontent of voters, who appear ready to oust them at the first opportunity.
Musical chair
In 2023, sanctions were imposed on several governments, both left and right.
In Argentina, popular discontent manifested itself more strongly with the election of the resounding liberal Javier Mele.
In the Netherlands in November, Geert Wilders' far-right party benefited from the disappointment of coming first in legislative elections, but it seems unlikely that it will be able to form a government.
Al-Haq is not the only beneficiary of this rejection movement. In Poland, which was severely affected by the war in Ukraine, the Alliance of Democratic Forces defeated the outgoing authoritarian PiS government.
Mixed signals for democracy
The Polish example shows that democracy has not lost everywhere in the face of public discontent. In fact, it is normal for incumbent governments to suffer when they are unable to fulfill their promises to their citizens, whether it is their fault or not.
The shock of the pandemic and the inflationary wave that followed has added to the growing global challenges of security, migration and climate change. Therefore, the ability of the masses to hold their leaders accountable for their actions has become more important than ever.
It is also true that the current trend toward tired voters poses risks to democratic ideals by fueling cynicism and nihilism in certain categories of voters, who become easy prey for demagogues.
When boredom leads to cynicism, democracy ceases to be a means of collective decision-making to find the best solutions to the problems of our societies. Rather, it becomes an arena of confrontation where expressing dissatisfaction and seeking revenge against those imaginary responsible for all our ills replaces healthy deliberation. This is what we saw a lot of in 2023. Let's hope 2024 takes a different turn.
