Throughout history, the cult of personality has created monsters that have led authoritarian countries, that have generated bloody wars and that have ended empires and democracies. The list is endless.
Only in the 20th century and so far in the 21st we have a long list of politicians who have cultivated their egos by becoming criminal dictators throughout the world. Mao, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Franco and countless plutocrats in Latin American, African or Asian dictatorships. In many cases, the people who brought them to power ended up being victims of their barbarities.
Saving the distances and the scale of the crimes, we live in these times a new irruption of leaders who exercise that cult of personality and who lead their peoples to authoritarian regimes that put the world order at risk and threaten the lives of their neighbors. It is not necessary to give names; they are on everyone’s mind, especially after the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the support given by other politicians around the world.
The problem is not only in the explicit and publicly condemned dictators who, however, continue to govern without any respect for the citizens. The serious thing is that the cult of personality is becoming a widespread custom in the world, even in countries with a long democratic tradition, creating visionary leaders who think they are above the citizens who elected them and the institutions that should defend. They are everywhere.
Of course they are not comparable to the great monsters of history, but they are a threat to the future of democracy in the world. The cult of personality, together with the three P’s (populism, polarization and post-truth), represent today one of the great challenges for Western democracies. The thinker and writer Moisés Naím explains it very well in his latest books, The End of Power and The Revenge of the Powerful, and in a recent interview with the Spanish press. “The three P’s have always existed,” he explains, “and now they have been enhanced by a situation of technological, social, economic and geopolitical change.”
Naím adds that “each one is connected: populism, first, is not an ideology, but a tool. It is the usual divide and conquer; this has as a consequence a polarization that increases in invoiced identities and all this is produced by post-truth , another strain of propaganda, the telling of an alternative tale to reality. All three are enhanced by technology.” A brilliant explanation of political reality around the world.
In Spain, hyper-leadership and the three Ps are doing enormous damage to our democratic system, in which the internal debate of the political parties has died for fear of the purges of some leaders who forget their electoral promises and their ethical commitments when they come to power. There are very few exceptions in the current environment of political forces.
Without naming names, the cult of personality, coupled with populism, polarization and post-truth have taken root across the political spectrum. From the extreme right to the most radical left or the independence movement, going through the two parties that have taken turns in power since the eighties. At the national, regional and municipal level. Little by little, these four plagues have been occupying all public spaces with a disastrous result.
As a consequence of this, not only has the internal debate in the parties ceased to exist, but also the parliaments, national or regional, have changed dialogue for insult and the rulers have ceased to submit to democratic scrutiny, attacking a opposition that also does not present alternatives, but limits itself to destroying the proposals of those who exercise national, regional or local power. It is discouraging to attend political debates in which populism, polarization and post-truth only seek the applause of their followers after interventions of 140 characters.
Hyper-leadership means putting above the figure of its highest representative of the principles, values and promises of each party. Sectarianism replaces ideology and the names and photos overshadow the acronyms and the history of the parties. So much so, that we have already witnessed in a short time the resounding fall of various political forces due to the mistakes of their leaders. If the brand of a party is linked so much to its president or general secretary, the failure of the latter overwhelms the former. The same thing happens in some large Spanish companies, in which everything seems to pivot on its president.
In addition, the conjunction of these four anti-democratic plagues is attacking the division of powers. Justice is politicized and politics is judicialized for the benefit of the interests not only of the parties but also of their leaders. The continuous attacks of politicians of both sides to the judges when they are not satisfied with their resolutions are one more example of this democratic nonsense. And what about a legislative power where the noise prevents any real debate.
It is difficult to fight against that cult of personality, that arrogance and contempt for the opponent, as well as against populism, polarization and post-truth. But if we believe in democracy, we must publicly denounce it.
