How Would We Know If Democracy Had Died?
Phil Tinline sets out to trace where the red lines lie that keep our political system safe, by asking how we would know if they had been crossed, and democracy was on the way out.
This year's general election prompted dire warnings of imminent dictatorship. It was marred by the intimidation of campaigners. And turnout was historically low. Over the summer, the far right fomented racist violence in English towns. When the authorities cracked down, some feared freedom of speech was at risk. Meanwhile, in America, both sides warn that the other threatens to bring the republic's democracy crashing down.
Democracy is a permanent gamble and such fears have always haunted it. But if panic is best avoided, so too is complacency. There remains the insidious fear that, while the forms remain, democracy can slowly wither.
In this three part series, Phil Tinline sets out to trace where the red lines lie that keep our political system - and America's - safe, by asking how we would know if they had been crossed, and democracy was on its way out.
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