Democracy is a word often paraded with much fanfare: the idea of a government run of the people, by the people, and for the people. But does the world really run by that ideology anymore? As politics invades every sphere, and the greed for money poisons every pocket, we find ourselves wondering whether ‘democracy’ is still as it was once dreamt of on the tapestry of guillotines and fire torches.
And ever so often, the politics of the world shifts again, the butterfly flaps its wings somewhere in the opposite hemisphere from us, and the storm begins to rage.
The United States of America was categorized as a ‘flawed democracy’ back in 2016, a move that pushed it out of its role as the ‘Shining City upon a Hill’ as President Reagan had once claimed it to be. The world has been at a loss for words at the state of the world’s most powerful democracy, with the faltering stock market trends, the ongoing government shutdown, and a variety of social issues repeatedly taking centre stage.
Image from Fortune.com
However, amidst the rising smoke of disaster running rampant in the country, the fire for the desire for change has been spreading amongst the voters who call the states their home.
A fire that has found its epicentre in the most recent New York mayoral elections that were held on the 5th of November 2025.
“New York- Tonight, you have delivered a mandate for change. A mandate for a new kind of politics. A mandate for a city we can afford. And a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that.”
These words were spoken by Mr. Zohran Mamdani, the newest elected mayor of New York City —the first ever South Asian, the first ever Muslim, and the youngest since 1892 to hold this prestigious position of power.
His campaign followed a simple yet profound philosophy of ‘Democratic socialism’- the philosophy that he describes as the belief that there must be a different distribution of wealth for all of God’s children.
Mamdani’s unapologetic pride in his identity- and all of his identity, be it his immigrant parents from India, or his faith as a muslim, or his ideologies as a democratic socialist, makes him both a man of the people, as well as a man who has dealt with and continues to deal with a lot of hate as well as resistance from large players in the political and financial worlds. He rattled even members of his own political party- but in the end, managed to win the heart of the people of the Big Apple. His campaigning, a lot of it being on social media such as Instagram, was able to connect with the hearts and minds of the major population of youth amongst New Yorkers.
Image from Chalkbeat.org
He’s also one of the few socialists who have managed to win the elected position of being a mayor in the history of the landscape of the USA’s political landscape. There are still those who have proclaimed that ‘Socialism has no place in the economic capital (of the) country.’ The word ‘communist’ has once again become a negative term to use, as used by the current president, Donald Trump, alongside calling him a ‘disaster’ for the country.
Intriguingly, the simple manifesto of affordability, better housing, groceries, and free buses has threatened the psyche of many in the city. To fund these promises, Mamdani proposed a 2% tax increase for those who earn more than one million dollars a year, as well as a bump to the state’s corporate tax rate. This has Wall Street and other businesses in the city worried.
Millionaires currently fund 40% of New York’s taxes- and also make 30% of the money generated by the city. And when we discuss Billionaires, Mamdani believes they shouldn’t exist!
However, a lot of his manifesto remains a huge question mark.
The New York mayor himself does not have the power to increase the taxes of the city, and those who do have that power above him still believe in ‘pro-business’ policies. New York is still running through a budget hole, cuts from the federal government, and jobs are either stagnant or have deteriorated since the time of the pandemic. Thus, the big question remains: how will Mamdani get the money to keep his promises?
Despite all these question marks, the truth remains- the sun appears to be rising on the side of the democrats. The capital of capitalism has chosen to elect a socialist man. The ever-changing landscape of democracy as a definition is changing once again, and we as the world shall simply have to wait and watch what this all means for every citizen of the world.
“.. we won because we insisted that no longer will politics be something that is done to us, now it is something that we do.”
There still may be hope for the ‘democracy’ as it was once dreamt of on the tapestry of guillotines and firetorches.