When Peoples Fall Asleep

Beyond the controversy surrounding Trump himself, Gere’s words point to a broader and more enduring concern. The greatest danger facing democracy today is not merely the emergence of populist leaders. It is the gradual weakening of the civic vigilance that allows such leaders to rise in the first place.

Throughout history, democracies have rarely collapsed overnight. More often, they have eroded slowly through indifference, resignation, and the retreat of citizens from public life. When critical thinking weakens, when political debate gives way to slogans, when emotions overshadow reason, and when fear becomes more persuasive than facts, democracy begins to lose the very foundations that sustain it. Such conditions provide fertile ground for the rise of populism.

Populist leaders do not emerge from a political vacuum. They are the product of societies facing economic insecurity, social fragmentation, cultural anxieties, and declining trust in institutions. They often present themselves as the sole voice of "the people" against corrupt elites, promising simple solutions to complex problems. Their appeal lies not only in their rhetoric but also in the frustrations and disappointments that many citizens experience.

Yet the danger begins when democratic politics is reduced to a struggle between enemies rather than a dialogue among citizens. Public life becomes increasingly polarized. Nuance disappears. Complexity is treated as weakness. Expertise is dismissed as arrogance. The search for common ground gives way to the search for scapegoats.

At that point, democratic institutions have become more fragile. Courts, universities, independent media, and civil society organizations are no longer seen as essential safeguards but as obstacles to be overcome. Citizens, exhausted by social crises and economic uncertainty, may even welcome the concentration of power in the hands of those who promise order, certainty, and national greatness.

History offers numerous examples of this dynamic. Different societies, at different moments, have entrusted their hopes to charismatic figures who claimed to embody the will of the people while gradually weakening the democratic mechanisms designed to protect them. The names change, the contexts differ, but the underlying pattern remains strikingly similar.

What is at stake is not confined to any single country or leader. Democracy is never a finished achievement. It is a living and fragile political accomplishment, sustained by the vigilance, participation, and judgment of citizens. Its vitality depends on informed debate, critical thinking, respect for pluralism, and the courage to confront complexity rather than seek refuge in easy certainties. The greatest threat to democracy is not always the populist leader. It is, rather, the collective temptation to abandon civic responsibility and delegate political judgment to those who claim to possess all the answers. Democracies weaken when citizens cease to question, cease to participate, and cease to defend the institutions that guarantee their freedom.

This is perhaps the deeper meaning of Richard Gere’s warning. "We went to sleep" is not merely a comment about one election or one country. It is a reminder that democracy can survive many crises, but it cannot survive the prolonged indifference of its citizens.

And yet there is reason for hope. Societies are capable of learning from their mistakes, renewing their democratic culture, and restoring the civic engagement upon which free institutions depend. Citizens can recover their critical awareness and reclaim their role in public life. Populism is not an unavoidable fate, it often flourishes where civic participation weakens, trust erodes, and democratic habits gradually decline.

If democracy is to regain its vitality, citizens must do more than resist demagogues. They must also restore politics to its true purpose. Politics cannot remain a theatre of permanent confrontation, empty rhetoric, and electoral marketing. It must recover its ethical dimension as a collective effort to serve the common good, address concrete social needs, and reinforce the bonds of solidarity among citizens. Only in this way can democracy recover the credibility that so many have lost faith in.

But when citizens awaken, reclaiming their civic responsibility, restoring politics to its ethical foundation, and grounding democratic life in social justice, democracy regains not only its strength and legitimacy, but also its capacity to endure. For social justice is not a secondary goal of democracy; it is what sustains it, giving substance to equality and meaning and credibility to citizenship, and enabling citizens to recognize themselves as participants in a shared future.

Messaoud Romdhani is a Tunisian Human Rights activist, former president of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, former vice president of the Tunisian Human Rights League.

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