Answered: Why did liberal democracy decline in…

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Why did liberal democracy decline in influence as fascism, communism, and other authoritarian regimes rose in power and popularity?

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Introduction

Democracy a system in which the government of a country is elected by the people. It refers to two forms of government: The most common form in which the people have the authority to choose their governing legislators and the original form in which the people have the authority to decide on legislation.

Fascism is a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society and of the economy, which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe.

Communism is a philosophical, social, political, and economic ideology and movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of a communist society, namely a socioeconomic order structured upon the ideas of common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes, money, and the state.

Traditional authoritarian regimes are those "in which the ruling authority (generally a single person)" is maintained in power "through a combination of appeals to traditional legitimacy, patron-client ties and repression, which is carried out by an apparatus bound to the ruling authority through personal loyalties".

None of these systems is perfect. They all have a certain degree of anomalies and common people are butchered in all these systems. Corruption exists in all of them and all these systems are easily interchangable.

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Democracy is quite different from fascism, authoritarian regime, dictatorship. Here the leader is chosen by common people. So one who can manipulate people can become a leader whether or not he is competent enough. This can lead to serious troubles and may eventually result in all those things democracy opposes.

Socrates had a firm belief that democracy without educated masses (educated in the broader sense of being knowledgeable and responsible) would only lead to populism. This would ultimately lead to the demise of the nation. Socrates was of the opinion that the right to vote must not be an indiscriminate right for example by birth or citizenship, but must be given only to people who thought sufficiently of their choice.

Democracy has to be learned, felt, and developed slowly and steadily. It doesn't offer an instant solution but is very motivating and beneficial in the long run. This is the major drawback of democracy. It requires patience. Which is very little in availability at all times. All other systems offer sudden relief and present themselves as having a pandora's box of solutions. Thus creating a sudden attraction towards fascism and dictatorship.

Democracy is more right based and very little or no duty burden is put upon the society in general, this looks very pleasant but brings in laziness and kills the motivation and ambition in the general populace which again results in democracy being converted into dictatorship. As in Germany after the great war when poverty was at all times high and joblessness was a normal thing, the democratic government failed to provide food and jobs instantly with all the restrictions in place and most of the resources being diverted to victor states. At such juncture, Hitler put all the blame on the Jews and with great disregard for the victor's sanction increased the weapons production and also the army strength. This mass employment too would have run out so to keep up the demand he declared another war and the rest is history.

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