Democracy must change for good

It is too soon to know what the lasting impact of the occupation of Parliament grounds will be. But there will be an impact.

It might appear that the kaleidoscope of concerns and people who are taking part in the occupation is so confusing that trying to make sense of it is not possible. There is, however, a common thread: they distrust authority – government, experts, the media.

This view of the world has always had a place in New Zealand society. That it has come to such prominence now is down to three key drivers.

The first is Covid-19. The virus is a public health issue requiring a public response. That is why the phrase ‘‘team of 5 million’’ has been so apposite and so effective. But a small group of New Zealanders do not feel part of that team and there is a bigger group who have some sympathy for the causes they espouse.

The response to Covid-19 was a perfect fit for their ideological position: the government leads the response, experts tell people what to do and the media conveys those messages.

The second driver is that New Zealand society has changed, and economic, cultural and social divisions have deepened since the 1980s.

These divisions have underpinned protests from all sections of society covering the full spectrum of concerns. There is, however, something qualitatively different about the events currently taking place. Protests are usually about something specific.

On this occasion, demands for ‘‘freedom’’ sit alongside placards telling us ‘‘Epstein did not kill himself’’, ‘‘Lettuce is real expensive’’, ‘‘Nuremburg Trials’’, ‘‘New Zealand is not communist’’ and support for former US President Donald Trump.

It is ideology that gives this line-up coherence, and it is social media that enables it to be organised. ‘‘Organised’’ may be the wrong word because the police tell us that finding organisers was a challenge. For the protesters that is not important when they can turn to Counterspin and a multitude of

The internet has allowed people who are more focused on their own backyard to share that point of view with others across the globe.

websites to find their version of the truth.

The third driver is globalisation, a word usually associated with the world economy. But the most important features of globalisation are transport and communication.

Covid-19 shut down the ability of most people to travel, creating a situation where people began to focus more on nationality and locality. It is no mystery that Covid-19 has fed into the rise of protectionism and nationalism.

But Covid-19 did not close down communication. Quite the opposite. The internet has allowed people who are more focused on their own backyard to share that point of view with others across the globe.

It is once again no mystery that the occupation of Parliament took place while events of a similar nature unfurled in Canada, the US, Australia and Europe. People talked with each other and felt themselves to be part of a community of like-minded people.

There is a lot to think about here. As elsewhere, New Zealand has people (growing in number) who share the ideological position that anything in authority is to be opposed. It is this ideology that allows people to hold in their head completely incompatible ideas – as long as they are about opposing authority.

The fertile ground for these views – some with merit, others batshit crazy – can be found in the growing divisions to be found in our society.

It is important to note that there are people (for example, white supremacist Philip Arps) who stand ready to exploit the concerns of disaffected people. They are dangerous and have their own agendas.

Which reinforces the need to understand that we are dealing with a widespread phenomena. I say widespread, not global, because events like the occupation of Parliament are happening in democratic societies.

This is a big problem to grapple with. Democracies are not doing well. The Economist has been pointing out for some time that the number of functioning democracies has been shrinking while support for more authoritarian forms of government is rising.

In short, democratic societies must find a way to function better or the slide towards a preference for more authoritarian styles of government will grow.

In such a world, ironically, an occupation of Parliament grounds may prove to be something the authorities will not tolerate.