We used to be able to say that about our presidents, too. We could disagree with them on policy but understood they were working for what they felt would be a better, more just, more affluent nation. Not today and not our current president. He has played on fervent nationalism (Make America Great Again) to whip his supporters into a frenzy. Those supporters, by the way, are largely white males who either did not go to or did not finish college. What the president plans to do to 'make America great again' is never clearly explained nor are the things that currently make it less than great (I happen to believe it is already great, always has been, and will continue to be...unless Donald Trump is re-elected). That's not to say America is perfect. She's not, never has been, and never will be. Utopias only exist in philosophical works of staggering genius. They always descend into dystopian regimes in the end. Apart from Disney, there is no happily ever after.
That brings me to our current situation...a heated presidential election that may well be the most consequential in our lifetimes. Who we are as a nation and people will be decided in just a few weeks. Are we a nation of selfish individuals who care only about what is best for ourselves or are we a nation of caring individuals willing to sacrifice for the common good? I'd like to think the latter is true but there is disturbing evidence to support the former notion. More to the point, apart from an apathetic population what is the quickest way to undermine and destroy democracy? Call into question the validity of free and fair elections, of course. This is what authoritarian dictators do when they know they cannot win fair and square. Again and again, the president has made false claims about the upcoming election that range from allegations of widespread fraud to ballots being thrown in trash cans (of course, only votes for him) to foreign countries producing fake ballots to manipulate the outcome. He has even suggested that perhaps the election should be delayed due to the pandemic. All of these are authoritarian moves from the dictator's playbook. Combine them with GOP efforts to reduce turnout and prevent certain citizens from voting by making it more difficult and the end goal is clear: kill the democratic system by convincing a sizable minority of the population that it is illegitimate.
In recent days we have seen numerous efforts to do just that by President Trump and his sycophants in the Republican Party. While Democrats have been urging everyone, regardless of party, to make their voice heard by casting their vote, Republicans have been working to suppress those votes. In California, the GOP put out 'unofficial' ballot collection boxes? For what purpose? To identify ballots belonging to Democrats and destroy them? To get Republicans who might not vote on Election Day to turn in an absentee ballot early? Who knows. The state says these boxes violate state election laws and has ordered them removed. The GOP has refused and compared them to Democratic efforts to collect ballots from citizens and turn them in. They are not equivalent to one another and anyone with a brain should see that dropping a ballot in an 'unofficial' dropbox is not the same as handing it to someone you trust to turn it in for you.
Further, Republican officials in many states are attempting to limit where absentee ballots can be returned by establishing a single dropbox for each county...even if the county encompasses 2000 sq. miles. A voter wanting to be sure her ballot is counted may have to drive a long way to drop off the ballot. The GOP is also challenging judicial rulings granting state election officials more time to ensure all ballots are counted in key states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. This is a clear acknowledgment by the GOP that it cannot win if all votes are counted.
Lastly, as a final safety valve, the GOP has orchestrated a rushed process to confirm a new justice for the Supreme Court. Never before has a justice been nominated and confirmed within 30 days. Why do it so quickly? Simply so that Judge Barrett can be seated on the Court in the event it is called on to install the next President of the United States. The stage has been set to challenge the results of the election. All one needs is a Court favorable to one's side and democracy dies. Where have we seen this before?
One need only look south to Venezuela, a country that was formerly among the 20 richest nations in the world. Today, it is a country in shambles. The ruling socialist party dictatorship led by Nicolas Maduro was roundly defeated in national elections in 2017 but with the help of the National Election Council declared a resounding victory. As Josef Stalin said, 'It's not the people who vote that counts, it's the people who count the votes' that matter. We got a small sample of this in Florida back in 2000 when the Secretary of State (Katherine Harris) rushed to certify the election results in favor of George W. Bush, whose campaign she was state chair of. The state was also governed at the time by Bush's brother Jeb and had a GOP majority in both legislative chambers. The legislature threatened to award the state's electoral votes to Bush if Harris did not certify the counts by a certain date. Pennsylvania's legislature has threatened to do the same this year for Trump.
Venezuela was one of Latin America's oldest and strongest democracies until the Chavez/Maduro regime killed it. Daniel Levine (2002) argues that the political system established in 1958 ushered in the longest period of peaceful, civilian rule in Venezuelan history and lasted until 1999. The puntofijista, as it was called, was a historic agreement encompassing most of Venezuela's political parties except for the far left. That's not to say the system was perfect. As Levine notes, it often limited participation to those associated with the approved parties and as Venezuela's economic status deteriorated in the 1980s, the system came under severe scrutiny and disfavor. That set the stage for the arrival of a dictator named Hugo Chavez. One of the key elements in this authoritarian takeover is the destabilization of existing institutions. By 1998, Venezuelans had lost faith in their political institutions and their ability to address national problems. Thus, a majority embraced Hugo Chavez.
Americans today have little respect for their political institutions. In the 1960s, some 70% of Americans had faith in the government to do the right thing. Today, just 17% of Americans express faith in their governmental institutions. Much of that is because nearly a majority still trust the Supreme Court. The executive and legislative branches garner just 21% and 22% percent support, respectively.
So, the question is, are we headed down the same path of decline that Venezuela followed in the 1980s and 90s? We may find out on November 3, 2020.
Reference:
Levine, D. H. (2002). The decline and fall of democracy in Venezuela: Ten theses. Bulletin of Latin American Research, 21(2), 248-269.
