The author states several reasons for the decline of democracy in the world. Two strike close to home. The first was the financial crisis of 2008-2009 and the following multiple government (i.e., using tax payers' money) bail out of financial institutions to benefit the top "1%" versus the "mainstreeters" who lost their homes to foreclosures and bankers' greeds. The other is the war in Iraq that was seen as the failure of democratic policies of the US, the richest and most successful model of modern democracy in the world, that uses democracy as a pretense to spread American imperialism (and oil security) under the cover of democracy, resulting in political instability and spread of terrorism. The other major factor is the rise of China. China's one party system breaks the monopoly of economic growth. While America's economic system doubles the standard of living every 30 years, the Chinese tightly controlled system has doubled the standard of living every 10 years for the last 30 years. American's democratic system is a symbol of gridlock in comparison. The same can be said about similar, western style democracies in India and Western Europe.
What are your thoughts on these relatively recent phenomena with respect to the adoption of democracy in the world? What happened to the Arab Spring revolution in the Middle East? The rise of Russia in the Eastern Europe? Is America losing her grip of economic and political dominance, and hence the waning success of democratic adoption? What do you think of China's emergence as an alternative, prosperous system? Is China's economic growth sustainable or will it collapse under its own expectation?
http://www.economist.com/news/essays/21596796-democracy-was-most-successful-political-idea-20th-century-why-has-it-run-trouble-and-what-can-be-do
