We either fix our democracy or we will lose it.
There is much that the U.S. can learn from countries that
are more democratic than we are. They can teach us how to become what and who
we thought we were.
The bright and shining face I see in the mirror each
morning, hiding that fun-loving personality that never stresses over petty
things, living life to the fullest, has been told more than once that he does
not know his real self. The very notion is always stunning.
America also looks at herself in the mirror every morning,
confident of what hides behind the image. When told the image might not reflect
reality she is stunned. Is it possible that she is not who she thinks she is?
Is it possible that she has much to learn and much to save?
The U.S. is going through a torturous time and the world
watches with glee, dismay, fear, or a combination of each. Daniel Horan, a
professor at Saint Mary’s College in Indiana travels the world in his job. He
makes a point of spending time with the locals. He has learned that much of the
world no longer views us as exceptional or very democratic.[i] Stunning!
The events of January 6th showed the world that we are as
vulnerable to political violence and corruption as any other nation. Last
week’s CPAC conference in Texas granted Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of
Hungary, a standing ovation when he called for the U.S. to follow Hungary’s example
of wanting to exclude people of mixed races and called for his and our troops
to unite in efforts to take over Washington and Brussels. All of that is
un-American to the core but highly desired by a fringe group of right-wing
zealots.
Richard Haass, the highly respected President of the
non-partisan Council on Foreign Affairs tells us in his upcoming book that “The
most urgent and significant threat to American security and stability stems not
from abroad but from within.” The threat, he writes, is “from political
divisions that for only the second time in U.S. history have raised questions
about the future of American democracy and even the United States itself.”[ii]
-
We are in a battle for our soul. We need the help of our
better angels. Will we be a democracy or an autocracy? Both camps believe their
viewpoint will save the country from itself. The division, however, is
rupturing the long-held view that we are the paragon of democracy, that we can
show the rest of the world how it is done. The world wonders!
A recent Pew survey indicated that fifty-three percent of
Americans believe the nation is too divided to solve its problems. That is an
increase of 13% compared to the 2020 survey. Over half of the Republican voters
believe that the last presidential election was rigged and that Trump won,
despite evidence to the contrary. Current mid-term election candidates are
running on platforms that call for politicizing the voting process, taking away
people’s right to vote, making it harder to vote, and even suggesting that the
legislature could decide who won. That is not America.
We are quickly becoming less and less of a democratic
country in the eyes of much of the world.
What?
How could that be?
Curiosity sent me into a Googling frenzy. After ignoring
the personal musings of people like me, three credible sources stood out: The
Cato Institute, The Heritage Foundation, and The Economist. Each
organization ranks countries based on how democratic their governments,
institutions, and economies are. They have a history that stands under
scrutiny. They use different criteria, but their analysis is well grounded.
The Cato Institute publishes The Human Freedom Index.
It ranks countries in two major categories: Personal Freedom and Economic
Freedom.[iii] It lists Switzerland as the most democratic country in the
world and the U.S. the fifteenth most democratic, behind Australia,
Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and others.
The Heritage Foundation places more emphasis on economics.
They rate the U.S the twenty-fifth most democratic country, behind Australia,
Canada, Denmark, Finland, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Taiwan, Estonia, the
Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and others.
The Economist looks at countries based on how
pluralistic they are, how well their government runs, how engaged their
citizens are in the political process, their emphasis on preserving civil
liberties, and their media freedom. They rank the U.S twenty-fifth, behind the
usual suspects.
One can argue the finer points of each ranking and move the
needle one or two-tenths of a percent in either direction, but the overwhelming
conclusion is that we, the epitome of democracy are not particularly democratic
anymore. I was stunned and wanted other opinions. I asked a small group of men
to scan a list of forty-seven countries, identify the ten most democratic, and
rank them 1-10 based on their own opinion, knowledge, or experience. Of the
twelve men who responded, only three identified the U.S. as the most
democratic. I wish I were stunned.
In
a speech to the House of Commons in 1947 Winston Churchill announced his view
that “Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms
that have been tried from time to time.” So, what does democracy demand of us
that makes it so much better? what many of us still value to this day and which
so many others want to take away. Democracy demands government by the people,
not the political party. It demands that we go to the polls, vote, and accept
the results. It demands that every adult has the right to vote no matter their
race, ethnicity, religion, worth, or education level. It demands that we
respect our institutions. It demands that elected officials do what is best for
the country. It demands that each citizen contributes to the common good.
Simple notions that we seem to have lost in the last few years. It demands too
that we believe in the rule of law, equally applied. A simple idea.
Does
it matter what think tanks and international news magazines opine about our
democracy? Does it matter what folks in other countries think about us? Yes! It matters a lot. We are supposed to be the shining city on the hill, the
beacon that others search for. If we are not that bright idea, how can we
expect other people and nations to want to be democratic?
If
we the people who started this great experiment cannot sustain a democratic way of life, why should Kenya try, or
Yemen, or Hungary, or, well … name a country that would like to be free? Can we
go out and tell them to have a free press when ours is on a ventilator? Can we
teach them how to develop a non-political judiciary when ours takes away basic
rights? Can we teach them how to conduct free elections when so many of us are
trying to take away the franchise and refuse to accept election results and the
peaceful transfer of power, after January 6th? Can we teach them
about the rule of law when so many are willing to overturn the very idea?
When democracy falters, it provides an opening for
autocracy.
So yes, we can fix our democracy or lose it. We can learn
from the more democratic countries around the world. They can teach us how to
become what we once were.
[i] Daniel Horan, OFM
– National Catholic Record – July 2022
[ii] Reported in Axios
August 10, 2022 – Richard Haass, The Bill of Obligations, January 24, 2023,
Penguin Random House
[iii] Cato rankings are measures of the rule of law, security and safety, freedom of movement,
freedom of religion, freedom of association, assembly, civil society,
expression and information, and relationships. On the economic side, it
considers the size of government, legal systems, soundness of money, freedom to
trade internationally, and regulation of credit, labor, and business.
