“Democracy is a very fragile thing. You have to take care of democracy. As soon as you stop being responsible to it and allow it to turn into scare tactics, it's no longer democracy, is it?” – Sam Shepard

The world is experiencing a political shift at present.  Scare tactics are definitely at play.  How can psychology help us understand this shift better?  Perhaps the best way to explain this political shift is to examine some of the psychological influences currently unfolding.  There are four psychological influences that will help us delineate what impacts a fragile democracy: implicit bias, special interests, motivated reasoning, and subjectivity.

Implicit Bias
In a healthy democracy there is an absence of implicit bias.  In a democracy at risk, implicit bias permeates an attitude of internalized stereotypes that affect one’s perceptions, actions, and decisions. These biases influence a behaviour that leads to unequal treatment of people based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, and health status⁽¹⁾.  The separation of the democracy starts with the breakdown of human equality.  The whole is sacrificed for the parts.  The haves dictate to the have nots.   

In a democracy at risk, implicit bias over time becomes the norm due to a desensitized media, which promulgates to the public.  When implicit bias is normalized the democracy starts to fracture into different perspectives leading to even more implicit bias.  This division in perspectives heightens the differences within the democracy and creates chaos and confusion.  The unifying principles of a democracy are diminished.      

Special Interests
One explanation of special interests is when individuals or groups create decision-making designed to benefit a specific agenda.  Anything that fails to meet that specific agenda is rejected.  This narrow view puts limitations on potentially more appropriate alternatives.  In a democracy specific interests can become problematic whenever power or greed becomes paramount.  

Motivated Reasoning
When individuals or groups turn to motivated reasoning, they are motivated to find the reasons they are looking for, not necessarily the real reasons.  In fact, motivated reasoning allows both bias and special interests to become even more readily available.  Thus, motivated reasoning becomes more and more about self-serving outcomes.

“Subjectivity ceases to exist only when the mutation-like leap is made from subjectivity to objectivity, from individual existence to universal existence.” - Piet Mondrian

Subjectivity
When individuals or groups are being subjective, their judgment, beliefs, or opinions are based on personal feelings and experiences rather than on factual evidence or objective truth.  Contrast being subjective with being objective, which involves judgments based on verifiable facts and external sources.  These sources are independent of one's personal biases or emotions.  When trying to eliminate implicit bias, special interests, and motivated reasoning subjectivity becomes contraindicated.   

12 Angry Men     
A jury trial is one of the best illustrations of democracy.  A group of twelve individuals form a group, hear all the evidence submitted at trial, and retire to deliberate the sentencing of the accused.  Due to the requirement that they must agree unanimously on their decision of guilty or not guilty, this is an excellent representation of democracy in action.  For the protection of a mistaken guilty verdict the caveat is there must be no reasonable doubt.

In the 1957 film 12 Angry Men, these democratic values are put to the test.  In only a few minutes of deliberation the jury votes 11 to 1 for guilty.  The antagonist, actor Henry Fonda in this case, convinces the other 11 jurors to keep talking about the case.

Interestingly, the film unravels examples of jurors being enmeshed in implicit bias, special interests, motivated reasoning and subjectivity.  One by one the jurors attack on the facts of the case are disputed to a level where reasonable doubt prevails and all 12 men vote not guilty.  The democratic process is salvaged but only through the persistence of those jurors who open their minds to the facts and close down their preconceived beliefs.

Implications

The fragility of democracy appears to be obvious in the film.  However, the complexity of these four concepts, implicit bias, special interests, motivated reasoning, subjectivity, combined with power and greed demonstrate the challenges ahead for democracy.  Democracies are said to die from within not from the outside.  That means we will need many antagonists among the population to curb these psychological influences.  Hopefully, the odds will not be 11 to 1.  

References

Wilson, B. (2022).  Implicit Bias.  ArticleBiz, June 9, 2022.