A quarter of the world's democracies are now led by authoritarian regimes, and almost none have media systems able to hold power to account, writes Julianne Schultz in a new analysis. Australia, she argues, can learn from the disasters elsewhere rather than following Pauline Hanson down her rabbit hole.
The Transformation of Political Communication
The political system has fundamentally changed, driven by an epochal transformation in communication. The 24/7 news cycle, Schultz explains, is a game won by populists who are instinctively emotional, angry, personal, and ubiquitous. Traditional politicians and the media, once considered the fourth estate, are ill-equipped to compete.
For 30 years, Australia has met Pauline Hanson's anger with its own, but Schultz suggests a different approach. The traditional media, regulated and operated with professional norms, ensured accuracy and independence. However, a new business-political model has emerged that cares nothing about accountability, refining the worst of the old system into an influence and money-making machine.
The Populist Playbook
Populists and social media platforms share a common strategy: activate anger, fear, and threat to mobilize and monetize. Some of the world's richest people fund populists who thrive on volatility. Grifters have used this support to foster populist rebellions, starting by undermining trust in media and journalists.
According to the Reuters Institute, trust in media has plummeted to around 40% in most countries—slightly better in Australia, worse in the UK, and a catastrophic 25% in the US. Trust was the first casualty, truth the second. A quarter of the world's democracies are now led by authoritarian populists with a tenuous relationship to truth, many lining their own pockets.
The Deception of Populism
As Liam Byrne, British Labour MP, writes in his book Why Populists Are Winning and How to Beat Them, the key is a deception: telling people their anger at a rigged system is justified, then redirecting that anger towards a different target—the outsider, the migrant, the minority. The prescription is a strong man to stop the rot.
Data shows that economies led by populists do not thrive; GDP shrinks. Populist leaders, Byrne notes, "buy applause on credit," meddle in the economy, and have no solutions beyond self-aggrandisement. Byrne identifies five categories of populist supporters: those wanting to burn the system, those feeling left behind, traditional conservatives, a melancholy middle, and civic pragmatists. Australians considering voting for One Nation fit these categories.
Australia's Position
Australia faces this challenge later than other countries. The Rudd government's intervention during the global financial crisis, avoiding austerity, was a big save. However, the voice referendum showed Australians are susceptible to digital disinformation, the populists' defining skill when they have money to buy it.
Schultz points to the removal of Karl Stefanovic after he followed money into a far-right love fest as a sign that things can be done differently. New rules and modes of communicating, listening, imagining, and acting need to be developed to ensure representative democracy can morph into a truly representative system—one that rewards courage, not rage; outcomes, not just process; co-design, not pretend consultation.
Democracy's Survival
The representative democracy we know is a creation of the 19th century. Australia has been better than many in refining the system—universal suffrage, compulsory voting, fair electoral boundaries, a judiciary and public service largely free of political influence. But in an information age, information is tightly held, special interests prevail, and the party system turns every debate into a zero-sum game, even though less than 1% of citizens are party members.
Byrne's lesson: "Democracy dies when its defenders lose their nerve. Mainstream politics must connect with the surge tide of anger that populists rise and rebuild a radical centre… we cannot simply take shelter from the storm. We must sail the tempest."
