The Year of Uncertainty for American Democracy

Deluded voters, failing institutions … One year after the assault on the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump, American democracy is still sending disturbing signals. A national awakening is necessary.

The assault on Congress on Jan. 6, 2021 cast a dark shadow over democracy in this great country. The fact that an incumbent president who was fairly defeated at the ballot box would do anything to prevent the peaceful transfer of power indelibly stained Donald Trump’s presidency. What has happened since then, though less spectacular, is just as alarming, as it raises questions about the strength of U.S. institutions.

The shock that this attack against the general will of the voters should have triggered did not occur. Indeed, a large majority of Republican members of Congress voted against certifying Joe Biden’s election without any legal justification on the very night of the attack, as the corridors of the Capitol in Washington still echoed with the turmoil.

A form of low-key civil war has taken hold in the United States. Embracing the idea of an allegedly “stolen” election has become the new orthodoxy of American conservatives. It is now a proof of loyalty, not to a country, not even to a party, but to the man the Grand Old Party persists in aligning itself with.

Rare Alternative Voices

One year after Jan. 6, 2021, 2 out of 3 Republicans continue to question the legitimacy of the Democratic president, according to a poll by The Washington Post. The conservative media ecosystem reports and fuels this belief, a media which is losing its few alternative voices, as shown by the departure of the respected anchor Chris Wallace from Fox News, at the same pace as the Republican Party is purging itself of its dissidents.

Under pressure from the former president, elected officials of his party first opposed his impeachment. Then they prevented the creation of an independent commission of inquiry, and finally they increased their attacks on voting in key states. These undermining efforts have been methodical to the point that one wonders what would happen today in a particularly close presidential election.

Unfortunately for American democracy, there is no way to improve institutions where reform requires a minimal consensus. The gerrymandering that minimizes the number of contested districts means that congressional elections are settled in primaries that favor the most extreme voices. The way the Senate is elected, like the presidency, gives an unequal premium to rural states where Republicans are dominant.

The judiciary has also been caught up in this toxic polarization. When the Democrats removed the supermajority requirement in the Senate for the confirmation of federal judges in response to the Republicans’ systematic obstruction, the Republicans responded by removing the same supermajority for Supreme Court nominations once they regained the upper hand. This decision allowed Trump to appoint three very conservative justices, deepening the gap between the country’s highest judicial body and the public impacted by its rulings.

These failures taken altogether are considerable. Repairing this damaged democracy implies the need for a national awakening and a sense of acting in the general interest, but both are lacking at the moment. Alas, for a country that has long considered itself a model.