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Lee Kuan Yew’s insight into the fall of democracies
By Jack Dikian
Long before Australia saw four sitting prime ministers deposed by their own parties between 2010 and 2018, before the United Kingdom saw five prime ministers unceremoniously dumped following the 2016 Brexit vote, and before the establishment of an authoritarian-leaning presidency in the United States, the first Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, wondered where all the good leaders had gone.
A 2015 book about Lee and written by journalists at The Straits Times newspaper, Lee Kuan Yew: The Man and His Ideas, provides a window into how, amongst other things, inapt and cowardly leaders are responsible for the decline of democracy in Asia and many Western nations.
"When leaders fail to uphold democratic norms, institutions, and values, it can erode public trust and pave the way for authoritarian tendencies. This can manifest as a decline in civic engagement, increased political polarisation, and a weakening of the rule of law."
Jack Dikian
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