U.S. Democracy

Twenty years after the signing of the InterAmerican Democratic Charter and the beginning of nation building in Afghanistan and Iraq, and ten years after the Arab Spring, it would appear that it is now the turn of the United States to try to consolidate democracy within its own borders.

According to a new CNN poll released on September 15th, the International Day of Democracy, “93% of respondents said U.S. democracy is either under attack or being tested. Just 6% said American democracy is in no danger at all.  What’s more, over half (51%) of respondents said they believe it’s likely that elected officials in the U.S. will eventually overturn the results of a future election because their party didn’t win. 

According to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, about one-quarter of adults believe the Nov. 3 election was tainted by illegal voting, including 56% of Republicans. The figures were roughly the same in a poll that ran from Nov. 13-17, 2020, which found that 28% of all Americans and 59% of Republicans felt that way. 

Trump and his supporters have persisted in pushing baseless conspiracy theories on conservative news outlets.

The poll showed that “61% of Republicans believe the election was “stolen” from Trump. Only about 29% of Republicans believe he should share some of the blame for his supporters’ Jan. 6 deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol”.

These reports from CNN and Reuters underscore my concern that American democracy is in trouble and that the culture of misinformation is growing and influencing a significant portion of the population.

I have noted in previous articles how a number of Republican controlled state legislatures are passing laws restricting voting rights based on the race and ethnicity of voters. Gerrymandering districts to ensure that minority votes make little or no impact is also game in many of these states.

The divisions between right and left, between red states and blue states, are reaching troubling levels. The recent victory of Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom in California during the recall vote is indicative of the lengths that Republicans will go to challenging the democratic order. His main rival’s threat to declare a fraudulent election underscores the attitude of a majority of Republicans to repudiate and challenge any election that doesn’t end to their liking.

What can be done?

In the short run, nothing. Both poles seem to be the tails that currently wag the dogs.

In the medium term, however, the fringes must be left to their own devices and democratically inclined leaders must concentrate on creating a broad centrist coalition. 

Each side has major media champions, and each side seems to refuse to accept the arguments or positions of the other. And the extreme right-wing media uses disinformation as a major strategic tool. 

In the medium to long term, a new medium must be created that lies somewhere between CNN on the Democrat side and FOX News, Brietbart, and others on the Republican side that can attract a significant audience in the center of the political spectrum. Journalists credible to moderates of both parties are essential to fashion a strong centrist coalition free from ideological baggage. 

As well, it will take an enormous amount of effort to change current trend lines and find an inspirational leader to bridge the gap. No such leader appears to be on the horizon, and no set of policies capable of attracting the broad center of the political spectrum seems to exist at the moment. 

Americans seem to need a common enemy to draw them together. To date, potential enemies such as the Covid-19 pandemic have proven very divisive. Can the current attempt by the Biden administration to create an anti-Chinese coalition rally the center to coalesce? That remains to be seen.

In the meantime, a leader can win the 2024 election by millions of votes, but unless the opposition agrees that he or she has won, the status quo will remain the status quo.

And American democracy will continue to lose credibility at home and abroad as a liberal democracy with all that this entails for the global community.

Edición: Laura Espejo