DISINFO: The idea of fair electoral competition is only Western propaganda
SUMMARY
Western propaganda has convinced us that elections are the result of fair competition and almost anyone can come to power as long as their ideas are supported by a sufficient number of people. Of course, this is not the case – no country would be able to function if it radically changed course every few years. In reality, these elections are the final stage of the legitimisation or, so to speak, public approval, of ideas and people that have undergone a long selection process by the ruling class. In fact the political system is aimed at self-preservation, and for the sake of long-term stability it doesn’t want to bring in new blood.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative attacking democracy and free and fair electoral processes, baselessly claiming them to be a hoax concocted by Western elites. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index 2023, there are 24 full democracies in the world plus another 50 flawed democracies, all of which have free and competitive elections, a fact that cannot be dismissed as “Western propaganda”. The ultimate goal of this disinformation narrative is to justify Russia’s autocratic system by denigrating democratic alternatives.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that democracy is the perfect dictatorship, that authoritarian regimes are best at handling disasters, that Russia is the first democracy in the world while the US is a police dictatorship, or that there is no democracy in Europe.