Threats to Democracy
/On the social media platform Quora recently, someone posed the question: “What do you think is the greatest threat to US democracy?”
On Quora, anyone can post a question. Then, anyone else on the platform, whether they are an expert, a novice or a nut-job, author of several books on the topic, or a completely ignorant outsider guided by nothing but prejudice, can write an answer. Participants can then upvote, downvote or comment on the answers.
The range of answers given to the “greatest threat to Democracy?” question are informative about America’s state in 2021. Nearly 70 answer had been uploaded by the time I read them. Here are the main themes:
The US is not a democracy and shouldn’t be, and the only threat is that people think democracy is good.
The Republicans. Or the Democrats.
Both political parties, equally.
The people’s faith in elections, or the electoral process itself.
Corrupting influences (illegal immigrants, Black Lives Matter, the gun lobby, etc.).
The debased mentality of the Americans people.
Next are a few of the many comments, edited slightly for brevity:
The US is NOT a democracy, and I hope to God, it never will be.
The GOP and Fox News are white supremacist, misogynist, promote christian theocracy, hate immigrants, and spread propaganda. They are anti-American.
The Democrat Party and the complicit liberals who have overrun our federal government, press, tech companies, social media companies, and education systems.
Both parties oppose needed changes, such as passing the American Anti-Corruption Act. Both parties oppose allowing other parties and independents to participate. Both parties centralize power, so are targets of corruption. Both parties have contributed to the increase in the US debt.
This is not tolerable. I refuse to have the US demolished by some random mom’s basement-living high school dropout neckbeard shitposters using US technology, that they didn’t invent, on US soil, that they didn’t colonize, eating US food, that they didn’t farm, wearing US clothes, that they didn’t sew, in US houses, that they didn’t build, with a voice in politics, that they didn’t earn, waving the US flag, that they don’t understand the meaning of.
Politicians: the polarisation between the two major parties. Each thinks nothing about telling lies to the electorate about their own record, and totally misrepresenting the record, aims, and outlook of the other.
According to the Democracy Index formulated by The Economist Intelligence Unit, the US is a “Flawed Democracy,” with it’s Democratic Index score steadily falling for the last 15 years. This makes the US the 25th most democratic country in the world.
the greatest threat is the integrity of the election[s]. To have a voting system where voters produce proper identification, the conscientious purging of voter rolls to make sure voters are alive or still residents, signatures, and be properly registered would help.
The corruption of decency, in so many. Carelessness, on the part of so many. Hopelessness, in so many. Lack of understanding, in so many. Frustration, in so many. Lies and corruption worked by those entrusted. Short term profits taken instead of long term investments made continually and honestly in the democratic idea and possibilities. We could go on… what’s the point? Everybody knows this.
The greatest threat to democracy in the U.S. is the U.S. Constitution.
All the other things: fake news, politics, political parties, culture wars, grievances, BLM, MTG, Gerrymandering, voter-suppression, CRT, MSM, militias, EVERYTHING… are just symptoms of that problem. Americans have gotten EXACTLY the situations, and systems, they want.
The failure of the educational system to teach critical thinking.
The greatest threat to US democracy is corporate oligarchy.
What I take away from this mish-mash of ideas is that “democracy” doesn’t mean the same thing to all people. Whether any two people agree that democracy is right or wrong, healthy or sick, secure or under threat — it is likely that the two of them aren’t talking about the same thing.
For some, democracy means the status quo process of American public affairs. In other words, the way we do things. The recent loss of confidence in election results is, to them, a threat to democracy because it means the country might have to change its election processes. People such as these don’t seem to care whether elections are fair or elected officials represent their voters well. For them, democracy is what we already have.
For other people, democracy is the worst possible collapse of social affairs. They insist that every mention of the word “democracy” must be followed shortly by the words “mob rule.” What they’re suggesting is that race riots and anti-police riots and every other kind of disorderly public demonstration is democracy in action — but an ordinary process like a local school board meeting is not.
Many people insist that democracy is a specific kind of government — a kind that the US is not. So, they say, democracy should not be mentioned because it is irrelevant in this country. I have an answer to that in this essay. Leading Americans have called our country a democracy, and spoken approvingly of democracy as a goal, for many decades. Lincoln and Roosevelt aren’t around today to post their ideas on social media. But we need to remember what they said anyway.
There is a concept in sociology known as an “essentially contested concept.” the idea was coined in 1956 by a Scottish philosopher named Gallie. Gallie set some specific conditions for what he deemed an essentially contested concept, and American confusion about democracy might not meet all the conditions. But most people agree that democracy is an idea that means something, and that democracy is important.
The next time you’re talking with someone else and the word democracy comes up — ask them just exactly what they mean when they say it. And then adjust your comments to suit that sense of the word. Taking the time to do that will help you achieve better understanding. Even if you disagree with the other person, you will at least be disagreeing about the same thing.
