The democracy we have on our hands today is not worth the name because of the twisted way we attain it: a fragmented polity constantly overheated by bickering politicians.
Factual evidence doesn’t lie; there is an undeniable practice that defiles our voting behaviour. What happened to us? When did we as voters become so fickle and inconstant?
It surely does not speak highly of democracy that a month or two after electing representatives into office, we then call for their ouster. Local and international politicians now face an uphill battle to make it to another term. Evidence points out that this is not only an African phenomenon but a global problem.
After spending four years studying in Australia and watching the country change presidents thrice in a space of a year, I became convinced that the increasing voter indecisiveness deserves a closer examination.
The current Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, just survived a vote of no confidence initiated by his own party members and still faces a leadership challenge as people are calling for his head whilst he hasn’t finished his first term yet.
In America, Obama almost got discarded but by a fortunate turn of events he managed to be elected for his second and last term albeit amid growing public frustration.
In Botswana, the incumbent president and his ruling Botswana Democratic Party suffered a growing deficit in supporters and started his second term at an all-time low in terms of popularity. They won with a fair majority.
Not spectacular, and certainly not as large as some would have wanted, but decent enough to hang on to power.
It has become very difficult for politicians to do any long-term planning because the electorate only extends their contract a few months at a time.
And here is the downside: there is no continuity because those we elect cause us to discard them before we go too far.
Despite our unquenchable appetite of constantly wanting to change leaders and government in our quest for “change”, we have not been appeased in anyway. All we do is complain all the more. So, do we know what change really is?
The global political system is in dire straits because, I would argue, public service is no longer public service because it now lacks civic responsibility and selfless dedication.
Information, which governments used to control, is now available from everywhere live and instant, giving us an edge over misbehaving politicians and those performing below par.
As a result, we now have an exceedingly irritable and impatient electorate who complain each time they encounter a bit of turbulence with their elected representatives.
And please, we must not mistake the situation as a sign of a perfect democracy in action. No, we are sabotaging the soundness of our political system and increasing a disastrous paralysis of our national potential.
While it is necessary to immediately discard of those jokers we elect as soon as we discover their inadequacy, we also lose stability and continuity, a necessary ingredient in any long-term planning.
We need to face the fact that the state of world politics is dismal. Voters want change but they have no idea on what trajectory they want what their countries to take.
The truth is channel-surfing politics will not get us anyway, except to make us go on a perpetual roundabout route into the wide and gaping abyss. Certainly, the possibilities of long term planning by politicians have practically become impossible because once the electorate becomes agitated they will call for your head on a platter.
Apart from our problem of voting for politicians interested in a political career instead of being qualified for the job, the politicians also shoulder a portion of the blame.
Nowadays the job of a politician is less about leading, but more of managing the electorates’ disappointments. Those are two different spheres. A real leader must lead in such a way that it is clear they are cognisant of the needs of the day. Politicians should not be so neutered in their capacity to effect tough decisions that their only currency left to trade is populist politics that hurt the nation such as we see in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
I understand the argument that the electorate would not be so fickle if we had a sober caliber of politicians. Fair enough. But my worry is that this habit of wanting to rid ourselves of politicians before they barely assume their seats is self-defeating.
Further, I believe the electorate should be able to exercise their rights during election time every few years. But what has been happening is we have been calling for the ouster of our leaders every now and then.
Democracy, although being the most admired system in the world, is now slowly failing us because we are being careless with it and we are abusing it. This is why surveys reveal that more people are becoming estranged not only from political parties, but from democracy itself. Changing a government doesn’t guarantee a change of political fortunes because if you change your car whilst driving on a road infested with potholes, it does not mean you have solved the problem. The potholes have to be fixed first before meaningful results can be obtained.
That’s why we should stop making democracy about elections. We have to reframe democracy outside of the polling booth, to include issues such as access, inclusion and equality.