Globalisation and the rise of populism are threatening democracy, according to a new book by leading researchers.
The book, Democracy under Threat: A Crisis of Legitimacy?, was edited and co-authored by professor Ursula van Beek, the founder and Director of Transformation Research Unit at the Political Science Department at Stellenbosch University.
Van Beek said: “Our research has shown that democracy is under threat from a number of factors, among them globalisation.
“Democratic nation-states are no longer fully in control of their own economies, as they are tied into and rely on the global economic system. At the same time, global technological advances call for highly skilled individuals.
"The latter are financially better off than their less skilled fellow citizens who have fewer job opportunities. This disparity evokes resentments that can lead to populism.”
Van Beek said the rise in populism was also a response to the growing inflow of migrants and refugees.
“The populist tendencies have spread even to the most established democracies.”
However, she added that populists were not necessarily anti-democrats. The book focuses attention on five young democracies (South Africa, South Korea, Chile, Poland and Turkey) and the well-established democracies of Germany and Sweden.
"Having studied these countries for close to 20 years, the authors found that of the five younger democracies, three have not fared well at all.
Turkey has become an authoritarian state, Poland has a populist leader, and South Africa is “struggling in the aftermath of the ruinous rule by former president Jacob Zuma”.