Are Democracy’s Days Numbered?

Many, many voices in the press, politics, and social media have been lamenting the decline and pending death of democracy in recent years.

The warning about the threats to the survival of democracy intensified after the 2016 election of Donald Trump. Democrats claimed the threat came from foreign election interference --- notably Russia and its dictator Vladimir Putin.  Republicans claimed the threat came from government election interference --- notably from the FBI and former Intelligence officials.

Advances by authoritarian regimes in China, Russia, and Iran coupled with America’s internal divisions and perceived retreat from global matters, also fueled claims that democratic nations were on a direct course to the ash heap of history.

When a mob of Trump supporters attacked the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, to prevent the counting of the Electoral College vote certifying the election of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States, these predictions started carrying an added weight.

Things did not look good for democracy at home or around the world.

Now two years removed from that disgusting display of January 6th, the question needs to be asked:  Is democracy on death’s doorstep? 

The events of 2022 may provide our answer.

The greatest assault on democracy occurred last year and it wasn’t in the United States.  It was in Europe and was a literal assault on a democracy:  Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  The world expected Ukraine to succumb to Russian occupation in a matter of weeks if not days.  That did not happen.

Rather, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rose to the moment and rallied his nation to defend its sovereignty. His leadership and the bravery of the Ukrainian people woke their European neighbors and the United States from their delusional ignorance about Vladimir Putin’s expansionist dictatorship. It revived the NATO countries and their commitment to the defense of freedom and democracy.

At the same time China pledged its limitless friendship to Russia. The invasion of Ukraine finally sounded the alarm about Communist China’s growing threat to democracy in the Pacific, specifically to Taiwan and its neighbors, and to the world as a whole.

A bipartisan Congress increased military aid to help Taiwan defend itself against an attack from mainland China. Japan and Australia are working closely together to defend their sovereignty and independence. These democracies are not ready to surrender to authoritarianism.  At least not without a bloody fight.

Inside China, the Chinese people fed up with unending Covid lockdowns, took to the streets to protest their government’s policies. This is remarkably unprecedented and dangerous. The Chinese Community Party however, for a variety of reasons, completely reversed course and stopped almost all the restrictions that had been in place for nearly three years. 

Large scale protests also occurred in Iran after the death of a 22-year-old woman in custody of that country’s Morality Police.  Uncharacteristically, the hardline Islamic regime did not crack down brutally on the protestors.  And after two months of ongoing protests, the Iranian government stated it will abolish the Morality Police.  If that does indeed happen, it will be the biggest change in Iran since the 1979 Revolution.

Here in America, 946 people who assaulted the United States Capitol on January 6th have been charged. 465 have pleaded guilty to their crimes.  Twitter has changed ownership and is revealing that federal government officials worked with the platform the social media platform to suppress Americans First Amendment rights.

In the November 2022 General Election, candidates who ran claiming the results of previous elections results were fraudulent got punished by the voters of their states.  Most notably Kari Lake in Arizona, Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania, Don Buldoc in New Hampshire who parroted Donald Trump’s claims about the 2020 Election.  Stacey Abrams, who claimed the 2018 gubernatorial race in Georgia was stolen from her, lost her rematch with Brian Kemp.

Voters across America of every political stripe, age range, ethnic group, gender classification, education level, religious affiliation, and income status have done what they typically have done in elections past.  They listened to the arguments, the accusations, and the hyperbole then cast their ballots.

The result is a message repudiating most of the Baloney Sauce (BS) served up by today’s crop of politicians.  It’s also a call to those who have been elected to get to work solving the problems facing the American people at the national, state, and local levels.

Whether or not that message is heard, understood, and adhered to is a question yet to be answered.  Too many politicians are enamored with the off-key melody of their own voices and frequently ignore what their constituents are telling them.

But that too is a part of democracy.  Democracy can be confusing, is typically raucous, usually messy, often misunderstood, and perpetually fragile.  Its fragility is something we must always be aware of and why we need to protect it and shore up its foundations when we spot a crack.

As we start the year 2023, if we step back from the noise bombarding us and look at the evidence on display, we should paraphrase a famous telegram from Mark Twain after his obituary was published:  The news of democracy’s death is greatly exaggerated.  At least so far.

Brian Floyd is an author, historian, and political strategist who frequently contributes to the Blade.