Trump is dragging US democracy down into the dirt
The USA is a proud democracy, though its track record is not faultless. Dark spots include that many of the founding fathers were slave owners, and it took the country a dreadful civil war to abolish slavery. Racism is a lasting problem. Even worse, the USA has a history of genocide. The indigenous peoples were decimated and suppressed.
Nonetheless, the democratic experience of the USA impressive. This nation has been run by elected presidents since George Washington took office in 1789. Presidential elections took place every four years. The constitution is based on the philosophy of enlightenment, relies on checks and balances to limit officials’ powers and facilitates public deliberation. Moreover, American society has become ever more inclusive in various ways. For the past eight years, a black man was president.
Against this background, the scenery of the current presidential election is depressing. The reason is Donald Trump, the Republican candidate. His behaviour reflects strongman attitudes, but not the decency required of a top leader in a democracy. In view of his poor figures in opinion polls, he says the election will be rigged and refuses to say whether he will accept the result. He has repeatedly said he wants to see his opponent Hillary Clinton in jail, should he win, and indicated to his supporters that he will make it happen. Many of his statements have racist, xenophobic or sexist connotations, and even more are plainly untrue. These matters have been discussed abundantly, so I won’t further do so here.
As many American observers have noted, Trump is dragging US democracy down into the dirt. What we are observing is not what democracy should be like. It is deeply disturbing that he denies the legitimacy of both his opponent and the political system in general. Democracy, however, requires mutual respect of all citizens – and especially the top leaders. Institutions deserve respect too, especially if they have proved strong over a long time.
Moreover, democracy requires the debate of policy proposals. The sad truth is that Trump’s proposals are very vague in the best cases or patently absurd in the worst (“I’ll build a wall and Mexico will pay”), so there is no point in debating them. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has a long list of detailed proposals that basically make sense. The US media, however, have done a poor job of turning people’s attention to complex issues such as how to make health care work for everyone. In three TV debates, the hosts did not ask a single question concerning climate change.
In recent years, science denial has become ever more common among the American right, and it has not been challenged appropriately. Too a frightening extent, ideological purity has been trumping (pardon the pun) curiosity for detail within the Republican party. This year's presidential candidate is the worst example of this trend, but he is not the first. His emphasis, I'll admit, is more on identity politics, catering to angry white people, than on ideological purity, but there always was an element of identity politics in lofty Republican rhetoric.
For a long time, US administrations have claimed to be promoting democracy internationally. The current election campaign, however, is embarrassing anyone who, like our team, believes in western democracy and wants to convince people in other continents of its merits. On the upside, it does look as though Trump will lose. The majority of US citizens apparently has a better understanding of what makes their democracy great than he does. That he managed to get as far as he did, however, is deeply irritating.