For generations, it has become an article of faith that democracy is the one superior form of government which all nations and cultures must aspire to. In his book The End of History Francis Fukuyama argued that the universalization of Western liberal democracy is the end-point of mankind’s ideological evolution. Or in the words of Winston Churchill, “democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.” This dogma has been inculcated in the brains of millions of schoolchildren and students through the media, academia and politicians.
Then came Covid-19. The current pandemic is a unique event in human history. It is not the first time countries are called to deal with disruptive events. Wars, natural disasters, terrorism, etc. have always been part of the human experience. But Covid-19 is the first time since the establishment of the nation state that all countries of the world are facing the exact same challenge at the exact same time. Each and every one has to deal with the exact same opponent – a tiny virus – at the exact same time. Each country adopted a different strategy to deal with the challenge based on its culture, national character, political system and economic conditions. Some, like China, opted for zero infection policy. Others completely opened their economies and borders. While others have hybridized and zigzagged between the two approaches. Some impose limits on movement, force vaccinations and mandate masks. Others not. All of this enables us to do something we could not have done till now – to compare how different societies and forms of government cope with a similar situation.
We can also measure with empirical data the impact of our policies. How many got sick? How many died? What was the impact on growth, household debt, mental health, level of social cohesion, etc.If one is to judge by the axiom that the role of government is to protect its people, the evidence is that liberal democracies have been ineffective in protecting their people. Democracies were among the worst performers in dealing with the pandemic.
Of the top 100 countries with the highest death rate per 1,000,000 people, 85 are the very same democracies invited to Biden’s Summit for Democracy. Of the more than 5 million people who died from Covid-19 more than 80 percent lived in democracies. Not only did democracies fail to defend their people, in the name of democracy and freedom they left their borders open, importing the virus, as they valued continuous international travel more highly than protecting their population.
Of course, Covid-19 performance is only one metric to judge the efficacy of democracy. There are many others which one can look at but none is as empirical and comparative. Democracy may be a better system in ensuring people’s right of expression, organization, and other elements of life which can contribute to happiness, but when it comes to ensuring life itself it left much to be desired. Of course, we can test other variables: drug addiction, crime, homelessness, depression, suicide, incarceration, etc. But the Covid stress test should give us all a pause.
