Opinion

The fight over the meaning of democracy

Attempts to re-signify democracy in China, the U.S., and Brazil demand the world's attention as we enter a potentially pivotal 2022

democracy bolsonaro
President Jair Bolsonaro in front of the presidential palace. Photo: Estevam Costa/PR

I recently had an apocalyptic nightmare in which I was part of the last remaining group of people willing to fight for an odd idea that almost nobody knew anything about: democracy. A few days later, I read about how China labeled itself a democracy in response to U.S. President Joe Biden’s Democracy Summit. I soon realized that my nightmare could well be materializing in real life.  

The response included a paper by the Communist Party entitled “China: Democracy That Works,” according to which “there is no fixed model of democracy; it manifests itself in many forms.” As such, the party identifies a “Chinese-style democracy” that is “to be used to solve the problems that the people want to solve.”

This attempt to re-signify “democracy” is not fortuitous. As discussed by The Brazilian Report earlier this year, several indicators suggest a global trend towards autocratization. The reframing of the term by Chinese autocrats must be understood within this context, as it is...

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