Is democracy in decline, retreat or under siege?

Democracy, as Abraham Lincoln defined it, “government of the people, for the people and by the people”. . . Democracy is a work-in-progress, not carved in stone to be worshiped. Each country and community have to find its own form of democracy to arrive at what is best for the community as a whole. To survive, it has to meet the Darwinian test of evolutionary competition from many different modes of governance. Darwin never said the survival is of the best, only the fittest.

THIS is a soul-searching question by many who agonise over a lost golden age of democracy, freedom and rule-based world order.

Democracy, from the Greek words “demos” – people – and “kratos” – rule, is usually defined as a system of government in which the majority rules, with consideration for minority rights.