Is democracy a fad?

Abstract

Democracy has become more common in recent centuries, but its future remains uncertain. While industrialization might have contributed to the rise of democracy, automation could reverse this trend. Automation could make labor less valuable and reduce the incentives for elites to accept democratization, leading to an increase in demands for radical redistribution and ultimately undermining democracy. The author argues that the recent rise of democracy might be a temporary phenomenon, and that a return to a pre-modern state of affairs, with dictatorship as the standard mode of government, is more likely than not. – AI-generated abstract