Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free
Your guide to what the 2024 US elections mean for Washington and the world
“At 2:24 p.m., sitting alone, Mr. Trump posted a tweet attacking Mr. Pence and fueling the riot. . . A minute later, the US Secret Service was forced to evacuate Mr Pence to a secure location at the Capitol. When a White House adviser found out, he rushed to the dining room and informed Mr. Trump, who responded: “So what?”
This is an extract from the recently published document report by Special Advisor Jack Smith on the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Many supporters of Donald Trump will consider that rehashing this report – just as Trump is being sworn in for a second term – is not relevant. They say the American people have delivered their verdict in the November election. Democrats campaigned on the idea that Trump threatens democracy. Trump nevertheless won a clear victory.
This raises an interesting question. Why is “democracy in danger” not a winning argument?
One theory is that voters simply don’t care much. A survey Taken just before the presidential vote showed that 76 percent of Americans thought American democracy was in danger. But only 7 percent thought democracy was the most important issue in the election.
Although majorities of Republicans and Democrats recognize that American democracy is under threat, they appear to have very different views on the origins of the threat. For Democrats, the threat is Trump; for Republicans, it is censorship exercised by a “woke” elite.
This disagreement highlights an important distinction I recently heard made by Pratap Bhanu Mehta, an Indian academic, at a conference at the London School of Economics. Mehta argued that there are two competing interpretations of the word “democracy” in contemporary politics. The first considers democracy as a method, a means of resolving disputes or conflicts of values. The second sees it as a way to empower citizens – the will of the people.
According to Mehta, “democracy needs both values and empowerment.” But when voters feel frustrated, rather than empowered, by the political system, then they may abandon liberal values in favor of a strongman who promises to get things done. An illiberal version of “democracy” then emerges, which – in the name of the people – attacks the checks and balances that are crucial to liberal democracy.
This seems to be what is happening in the United States. A review survey Last week, it was revealed that two-thirds of Democrats and 80 percent of Republicans believe government serves itself and the powerful at the expense of ordinary people. Large majorities distrust Congress and the media.
Trump rose to power promising to be the strongman leader who will break the power of the corrupt elite and “make America great again.” He has repeatedly claimed that the American system is “rigged” and controlled by a “deep state” that torments ordinary Americans. In 2016, Trump told the Republican convention that the American system allowed “the powerful to prey on those who cannot defend themselves,” asserting that “only I can fix it.”
During his last election campaign, Trump presented all the lawsuits filed against him as mere evidence of the machinations of the deep state. He promised Americans who also felt persecuted: “I am your punishment.”
In some places, at some times, strongman rule and illiberal democracy may be popular. In El SalvadorPresident Nayib Bukele has suspended basic rights, imprisoned 83,000 people under emergency laws, sent troops to Congress and is accused of enabling torture, killings and enforced disappearances. But crime rates in El Salvador plummeted and Bukele was re-elected with an overwhelming majority.
The Salvadoran leader concisely summed up the credo of illiberal democracy when he told the UN: “Some say we have imprisoned thousands of people, but in reality we have freed millions. » Bukele has been praised by key Trump supporters, including Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson.
One possible development to watch for, as Trump takes power, is that the new US president seeks to emulate Bukele or Hungary’s Viktor Orbán by declaring a state of emergency this would allow him to suspend the normal operation of the law. If Trump seeks emergency powers, liberals will sound the alarm. But they should prepare for the possibility that many ordinary Americans, like ordinary Salvadorans or Hungarians, will approve of this proposal.
If supporters of liberal democracy want to win the political battle, outrage and resistance will not be enough. They will have to overcome the arguments of strong leaders and illiberal democrats.
President Biden belatedly began the process in his farewell speech at the White House, when he warned that the United States was being taken under the control of an oligarchy. Liberals must also demonstrate that strongman leaders tend to empower themselves and their friends rather than the people. Corruption is the almost inevitable result.
In the months and years to come, Trump’s opponents will have to relentlessly explain what oligarchic power and strongman rule mean for ordinary Americans. There is likely to be a lot of corruption and self-dealing to report.
If Trump’s opponents can make their case while protecting the integrity of the electoral system, the liberal version of democracy may still ultimately prevail.