US democracy is broken
It’s been three weeks since US votes. The vote has not created history by making Trump a one-term president but turned the American democracy into dysfunctional chaos. The stature of the US to lead the world has perished. The other old man Biden would hardly be able to recover from the trench Trump created in last four years.
Many republicans still doubt Biden has won the election. Trump himself has not conceded, continue to pursue legal challenges. While early indications show his failed legal challenges, who knows what future holds. It will be very hard to believe in US justice system that is heavily influenced by political allegiance.
The US society is more fractured than ever, and this is likely to continue further. The future of US migration is in limbo with tarnishing image of US as the land of hopes and opportunities.
The US democracy heavily rely on sincerity of the voters. This is more so here in Australia. Australian voters do not need to produce identification documents before casting votes. The integrity of the election is based on long accepted belief that US voters would not fraud the election system.
This is where Trump is hitting now. His intention might to punish Democrats for a witch hunt following 2016 election where they alleged Russian interference with no evidence. Trump is responding with similar tactic – claiming election fraud but provided no evidence.
OpenDemocracy editor Mary Fitzgerlad says, ‘It’s true the US electoral system is broken; just not in the ways the president says.In Georgia, where Biden won by a slim margin, hundreds of thousands of black and Latino voters were purged from electoral rolls. This disenfranchisement has been happening for decades, and that similar tactics have been used in other states.’
In the last two elections, it’s not just voting rights that are being manipulated, but the public opinion too. The disinformation campaign has been a new normal post 2016. Neither authorities not technology giants are able to address this threat adequately. Trump is winning the disinformation war – so will be future contestants. It will not just be US but across the world.
The mismanagement in US has purged the importance of democracy – at least in the eyes of those who advocate against democracy. The future of democracy will now rest with the muscles in Brussels – not Washington. China is already courting Europe to its favour; we may not expect any challenge to despots in near future.
Democracy is gradually eroding.
What new form of governance are we looking forward to? I would say SOCIOCRACY.