Democratic Demise & Recovery
On January 6th, 2021, scenes of chaos and unrest were broadcasted on televisions around the world as people gathered to watch as a mob of right wing extremists storm the United States Capitol building, right as congress voted to certify the results of the election — a sacred process, instrumental to guaranteeing the peaceful transfer of power. The United States has long been viewed as a hallmark for democracy and freedom, but as tear gas filled the air and blood trickled down the steps of congress, peace was the last thing in anyone’s mind.
After the assault on the capitol, many, including some of our most influential leaders, began arguing that “the American experiment had failed” and “democracy died on capitol hill”. But how can we truly tell if “democracy is dead”? And if it is, is it possible to save democracy? In order to make sense of the turbulent state of twenty-first-century America and what it means for the future of the American democratic experiment, we first need to understand how we got to where we are today. This can be done by carefully studying the multitude of examples of past and present democracies, who when in their moments of crisis either recovered and built back democratic norms or failed to act and fell into grasps of authoritarians and dictators.
In their best-selling novel, How Democracies Die, Harvard Political Scientists Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky write: “Democracies may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders — presidents or prime ministers who subvert the very process that brought them to power.” When we look at democracies that have failed, a common and unexpected theme appears — most democracies that died did so through democratically electing an authoritarian leader, often referred to as a demagogue. Levitsky and Ziblatt define demagogues as political leaders who seek support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument. In doing so, they have the ability to push an already weak democracy to the point of extinction.
In 2016, in electing Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States, we elected a demagogue. However, the roots of the problem stems even further back in history.
The cause of the failure of most democracies comes not from the demagogue leaders a country’s people elect, but rather the very people who elect these leaders. Extreme polarization and partisan divide weaken democratic norms such as respecting the legitimacy of the opposing party. When people lose faith in the legitimacy of their rivals they become overwhelmed with fear of what could happen if the other side took over and therefore become willing to do whatever is in their means to prevent that from happening — including electing an extremist or likely authoritarian.
Regardless of who you ask, anyone will tell you that America is polarized. Levitsky and Ziblatt explain, “The fundamental problem facing American democracy remains extreme partisan division — one fueled not just by policy differences but by deeper sources of resentment, including racial and religious differences. America’s great polarization preceded the Trump presidency, and it is very likely to endure beyond it.” Although democracy managed to survive through the Presidency of our would-be-authoritarian 45th President, unless we can end polarization, democracy will remain under threat, even in the post-Trump era.
Like many things, ending polarization and in turn saving democracy is easier said than done. There are few precedents of polarization as extreme as what America is going through today. However, if we look back far enough in history, we find that the Reconstruction Era, postcivil war and end of slavery,fostered a similar political atmosphere to the one we are in today. Although it may be tempting to look back to the post Reconstruction Era to seek guidance on how to move forward and overcome extreme polarization, we must not. Levitsky and Ziblatt write: “The stability of the period between the end of Reconstruction and the 1980s was rooted in an original sin: the Compromise of 1877 and its aftermath, which permitted the de-democratization of the South and the consolidation of Jim Crow. Racial exclusion contributed directly to the partisan civility and cooperation that came to characterize twentieth-century American politics. But it did so at the great cost of keeping civil rights — and America’s full democratization — off the political agenda.”
Twenty-first century America is now tasked not just with saving democracy but also with rebuilding it to be equitable and inclusive for all. In order to truly save our democracy, we not only need to restore the democratic norms that once protected it, but also ensure that we extend the gifts of democracy to the entirety of society, regardless of race, class, gender, or nationality. The founding principles of American democracy have and will continue to be sound, but throughout history, they have been sustained through racial exclusion. If we truly want to save democracy, we must make the norms of democracy “work” in an era of immense diversity like never before, and that’s only possible through change and solidarity.
Unfortunately, there is no precedent for a nation being both multiracial and truly democratic. Yet, if we can manage to come together and build a society that is both united and inclusive of all identities, we will, for the first time, live in a true democracy. It’s time to come together and unite. It’s time to build a stronger, more inclusive, American democracy.
Written by CAHSD member Sofia Penttila. Edited by TGP Creative Correspondent Millie Liao.
