Riots at US Capitol: The Miserable Decline of Democracy

It set an example of democracy for the world. The superpower that once boasted about this has miserably declined.

The congressional process to certify America’s next president turned into a bloodbath. Rioters stormed and temporarily occupied the U.S. Capitol.

In addition to guns, authorities reportedly discovered explosive devices in the area. The vice president and members of Congress fled with gas masks.

The resulting emergency violently delayed a transfer of power process set down in the Constitution. The entire American political community must reflect on why this riot occurred.

President Donald Trump bears the most blame. He has refused to concede defeat in last year’s presidential election and has incited outrage among his supporters.

If we recall four years ago, when protesters against racism were killed and injured by a white supremacist, Trump evaded a clear rebuke. Before last year’s election, when asked if he would denounce violence by his extreme supporters, he instead told them to “stand back and stand by.”

At the rally that started all this, there was a call for “combat” to overthrow the election results. This tragic riot was the result of Trump’s politics of fanning hatred and disdaining the rule of law.

But one cannot blame the current divisions in American politics on only one president. The widening inequality and failure to integrate the people who fomented this uprising is the result of the dysfunctional politics of successive administrations and both parties.

The fact that the Democrats have won a majority in both houses of Congress can only be good news for President-elect Joe Biden. But it will be almost impossible to heal the divide among his people epitomized by this incident.

When Congress reconvened on Jan. 6, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, “They tried to disrupt our democracy. They failed.” If Republicans believes that the legitimacy of American politics is worth safeguarding, they must repudiate the last four years, when they became the “party of Trump,” and work with the incoming administration to begin finding a way to restart politics.

Although little more than 10 days remain until the transfer of administrations, it is dubious whether Trump can continue to govern normally and maintain foreign relations.

World leaders who witnessed what British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the “disgraceful scenes” in Washington must again feel the tremors in the world order that America leads. At the same time, this is the time to directly face the severe distrust in politics in many liberal countries -– not just America.

Haven’t political parties and administrations pursued their immediate interests to such an extent that they have lost sight of policies meant to secure happiness and sustainable lifestyles for all their citizens? Fixing democracies that are facing crisis is an urgent task for all major countries, including Japan.