Democracy is overwhelmed by populism. Ancient Greece to Serene Republics of Genoa and Venice, democracy is not an unfamiliar subject with civilizations of humanity. Democracy has many principles however populism is the apparent one. While democracy relies on populism, have we ever thought that populism might ruin it?
Before democracy nations were controlled by several estates and the common ones would be Nobility, Burghers and Clergy. Those estates kept each other in check so If you were a regular person before the democracy only way you could have a word in the court of a nation was to become wealthy and eventually become a burgher. Otherwise the cast system held the commoner away from involving in politics. However this changed with the recent advancements of the society and evolved into democracy. But should always “the people” decide for their fate?
My opinion would be a negative one as I don’t believe in populism. The idea of populism makes no sense since an agrarian in the East and an officer in the West would totally oppose each other with some exceptions. Democracy itself was enstablished for the leading class to discuss the matters of the state. Do we really need masses’ opinion about a simple issue like a territorial dispute? I would say no. I don’t think anyone would care about the territories of the state as Nobility would care, because nobility’s power comes from the land itself while many people don’t seem to even own a piece of land. Same goes for economics. The burghers would decide the best for the economy as It’s their area to expand. A regular citizen would be less affected with poor economic decisions, so I believe that populist democracy should be replaced with estate democracy and It’ll probably improve the country as there’s checks and balances since If we take voters as a private estate, they’re unchecked.
Over the years democracy saw many improvements however populism wasn’t one of them. Because of populism many incompetent leaders rose to power thus affecting the entire globe. French political instability itself was caused by populism because two factions couldn’t decide which of them should rule, so the question only ended with German invasion of 1940. Of course, people shouldn’t fully be dismissed from the power, however the power should be reduced in order to enstablish a balance. Thought it might seem like the democracy would fade away, the balance would make it stronger as It would allow everyone to speak of their interests thus it would help making a stable environment for all classes and all people.