This is perhaps why Nobel Laureate economist, Joseph Stiglitz, says the US is now an exclusive elitocracy. Instead of becoming fully democratic, the world seems to be moving in the opposite direction. The biggest example of a decline in democratic values across the US, according to Stiglitz, is the intense push in State school systems to remove references to the climate crisis from science textbooks. A debate is also raging about abridging the chapters related to racial persecution.

Today, the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, is hogging the limelight alongside President Trump. He heads the department of government efficiency (DOGE). This gives him the power to interfere in every government policy decision.

Democracy-loving Americans as well as people around the world are looking with dismay at the way Trump pampers him. Let me cite an example. When the Musk-led Tesla car company’s sales started to plummet, Trump called it a conspiracy and declared that he would buy a Tesla car. Within a week he purchased a new Tesla car and flaunted it before the media. What conclusions are we to draw when the most powerful leader in the world makes a publicity pitch for a private car company?

Just go through President Trump’s statements from the last two months. Terming Gaza as “beautiful real estate” he said its residents should leave their ancestral land and seek refuge in neighbouring countries. He nonchalantly says there’s no need for the president of Ukraine to be involved in the Russia-Ukraine peace deal. The US wants control of rare earth minerals and nuclear power plants in Ukraine to broker a ceasefire with Russia. He’s not bothered if Russia annexes Ukrainian territories just as it gobbled up Crimea a few years earlier.

It’s the first time after World War II that the world’s two most powerful nations are determining the fate of a phenomenally weak sovereign nation without even consulting its people. The way Israel pounds Gaza with air strikes and threatens to launch a ground offensive leaves us with a lot of uncomfortable questions. Is it the beginning of a new cycle of war and violence? Trump has earlier indicated his intentions of annexing the Panama Canal and Greenland to the US.

It’s not a coincidence that many countries are witnessing a surge in tendencies that are not conducive to democratic values. Many countries in the Indian subcontinent are affected by this trend. Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau claims that the ruling Sharif family owns assets of more than ₹730 crore. Opposition leader Imran Khan’s worth is estimated at ₹450 crore. Pakistan army is neck deep in the morass of financial corruption. Former chief of army staff Qamar Javed Bajwa’s wealth has been a subject of living room chatter. Even Bangladesh’s current ruler Mohammed Yunus is a billionaire.

India too is witnessing the winds of change and not necessarily for the better. According to the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), 504 of the 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha are millionaires (crorepati in local parlance) and 75% of the MPs have assets of more than ₹3 crore. In 2009, close to 58% of MPs were millionaires. It has kept increasing with each successive Lok Sabha election from 82% to 88% and now, it stands at 93%. At this rate, in the next Lok Sabha every member would be a crorepati. Inequality in financial status between the average Indian citizen and the elected leaders is widening. Currently, the difference between the voters and leaders stands at 2,700% and is constantly expanding and deepening.

We shouldn’t forget that Trump, Shahbaz Sharif, Georgia Meloni, and Friedrich Merz have been elected by a majority of their electorate. Trump and Sharif have regained their positions after suffering a loss earlier. It’s a clear indication that people are fed up with leaders who pursue their narrow personal agenda in the garb of liberalism. Despite material wealth in the American dreamland, the sense of general well-being and a positive outlook for life are on the decline.

In such a scenario, trust in social institutions is at an all-time low and rabble-rousers and demagogues are having a field day. If Karl Marx was alive today, he would coin a new slogan: “Democracy lovers of the world unite, the institution is in danger”.

Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. The views expressed are personal