The state of the public at the national, state and global levels reminds me once again of the bookDefense of democracyby Antoni Rovira i Virgili, published when the first effects of the crash of 1929 and the subsequent world economic crisis were being felt in Europe, the egg of the serpent of fascism (Bergmann), with terrible political and human consequences.
In recent days we have witnessed quarrels between parties over the initiative of an omnibus decree law and how political leaders have demanded that the state government present a new decree. We are all getting used to it, we have normalised the fact that governments decree. It is not normal: the work of governments is not to legislate, nor is it that of judges. Between us all, we are allowing democracy to degrade. Last year, a third of the norms with the rank of law approved in Spain were decrees developed by the government, when this is a measure reserved for situations of extraordinary and urgent need. And in the world order, we are also getting used to hyper-leadership and the authoritarianism that it promotes, such as the latest wave led by the ineffable Donald Trump and his executive orders.
We must vindicate the thinking of Rovira and Virgili and confront the new authoritarianism that takes such good advantage of the values of democracy and technology to subvert them. Technological possibilities deceptively reflect the idea of direct democracy. In addition to recovering the separation of powers, it is necessary to pay attention to Rovira and Virgili when they say that "parties are an indispensable instrument for the regular exercise of democracy." Let's get involved!
