Behind the Failure of American Democracy

On Nov. 23, General Services Administrator Emily W. Murphy advised Joe Biden and his team that the Donald Trump administration had made preparations to officially begin the transition process. The same evening, the Trump administration confirmed this over social media, but Trump himself has yet to admit that he has lost the election and continues to challenge the election results.

After the disaster and confusion of this election, the American people have decidedly lost their moral high ground. Many Western media outlets blame this on Trump. According to The New York Times, Trump’s attempts to subvert the results of the U.S. election have destroyed American democracy. The United Kingdom’s Financial Times also reported that Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the election is a threat to American democracy.

All along, America has presented itself as a model of democratic norms for other nations, pointing to the supposed lack of freedom and equality in other countries. However, as recent events have shown us, American democracy is not immune to failure. Its image has already been severely damaged on the world stage, and the U.S. will be hard-pressed to point its finger at other countries in the future.

American democracy does indeed have a big problem. Even the American people are losing faith in their system. According to polls of the public, only 55% of Americans believe that the election was held in a “just and legal” manner, and 25% of respondents believe instead that the election was either rigged or unduly influenced by illegal ballots. It’s no wonder that The New York Times reports that American democracy is on the verge of collapse.

It takes more than a single cold day to freeze the surface of a river 3 inches deep. The failure of American democracy is not a random occurrence, and ultimately blame cannot be attributed to only one U.S. president. In reality, democracy in the U.S. has been on the decline since the last days of the Cold War. A study by Cambridge University shows that U.S. citizens' dissatisfaction with America’s democratic government has been rising steadily since 1995, from 25% in 1995 to 50% today. Behind this number lies chronic structural issues involving U.S. governance.

The most pressing issue for American politics is the influence of money in elections. “One person, one vote” sounds morally sound in the abstract, but in reality, elections are controlled by the mounting influence of money. This time around, more than $13.9 billion poured into the 2020 election, the greatest amount in American history. The influence of money in politics leads to a severe distortion of public opinion, and ultimately voting becomes nothing but a game for the rich. Ordinary people are entirely forgotten. It comes as no surprise that the public questions the presence of “dirty money” in their democracy.

Experts believe that the “winner takes all” electoral system is an innate flaw of American democracy. The result of the U.S. election largely depends on the Electoral College; the winner of the Electoral College does, indeed, take all. The candidate who wins the majority of the vote takes the election, meaning that the candidate does not need to consider the needs of the American people writ large. This system only increases political polarization and drives U.S. politicians to create division within society. American society cannot reconcile differences among its citizens; rather, it makes them worse.

American democracy is ill, and not just a little. Trump’s post-election actions have revealed the disintegration of democracy for what it is, but the decay started long ago.

As for what Americans ought to do in the face of this decay, prominent political theorist Larry Diamond states, “American democracy is getting old, but that is only a part of the problem. . . . We should have updated our structures long ago, learning from other countries around the world.”*

*Editor’s note: Although accurately translated, this remark by Larry Diamond could not be independently verified.