Did you know that a staggering 72% of the global population lives under autocratic rule, with only 13% of people in full liberal democracies? Rather than progressing towards a more just and free world as was once the vision, local and international democracy is in decline, retreating to where we were in the mid-1980s.
As we close the chapter on 2024 – dubbed possibly “democracy’s biggest year” – we have seen elections marred by misinformation, low turnouts, polarisation and foreign interference. Meanwhile, the rise of the far right across Europe, and the UK’s recent wave of anti-immigration riots signal a growing hostility towards the democratic values many of us take for granted. In the face of this worldwide threat, Danny Sriskandarajah is on a mission to save democracy. Power to the People argues that increasing citizen action and fostering greater community engagement are key to re-establishing democracy and, ultimately, creating societies that serve the people and not the powerful few.
Sriskandarajah was born in Sri Lanka. When he was ten years old, his parents decided to emigrate to Australia when Sri Lanka was gripped by a civil war lasting 25 years. Relatives warned the young family not to return to their homeland because as Tamils they risked being persecuted by the Sinhalese-majority-dominated government. This experience undoubtedly influenced the author’s relationship with activism. As a young child, he joined his parents and the local Sri Lankan community in Australia in writing letters to parliament, holding rallies and trying to convince foreign journalists to cover the war. They also set up a Tamil community radio station and held fundraising events to support refugees. “I even wrote a letter to the Dalai Lama urging him to call for peace in Sri Lanka – and was blown away to receive a reply,” he recalls.
Escaping war and helping his community from a safe place fostered in Sriskandarajah a responsibility to speak up for those whose voices were not being heard. This sense of empowerment has guided his impressive career ever since. He has led charitable organisations such as the Royal Commonwealth Society, Oxfam GB and CIVICUS. Today he is chief executive of the New Economics Foundation.
The author brings years of knowledge to first accurately diagnose the problem of why democracy is failing worldwide: “In highly unequal societies, political participation falls as conventional political activities come to be perceived as unfair and political leaders as untrustworthy. A society that is distrustful and divided is less able to solve pressing socioeconomic challenges, not only because the legitimacy of its government and its policies are weakened, but because it lacks the necessary social cohesion for people to mobilise around shared goals.”
To address these recurring problems, Sriskandarajah advocates for more democratic political institutions, reforming our economies, amplifying the needs of the people instead of the elites, and regulating Big Tech to protect our digital futures. Within these central chapters, Sriskandarajah uses illustrative case studies and cites successful interventions such as non-profit organisation Avaaz’s successful campaigns to tackle endemic corruption in Brazil, and the Make My Money Matter campaign, which is creating a movement calling for the trillions of pounds invested in our UK pensions to fund a better world.
This text is a timely addition to the growing literature offering blueprints for a brighter future. What sets Power to the People apart is Sriskandarajah’s personal connection – his relentless enthusiasm and his clear, pragmatic approach to tackling the failures of modern democracy. “People across the world remain tightly bound by common concerns, and a shared desire to see new forms of social contract begin to heal our divisions,” he writes. “We have much more in common than we think.”
Power to the People: Use Your Voice, Change the World by Danny Sriskandarajah. Headline Press, 2024. ISBN: 9781035414239.
