Is the U.S. a backsliding democracy?

As the world’s longest running democracy – 248 years and counting – the U.S. continues to attract people from all over the world, seeking the freedoms we prize so dearly.
 
And over the last 70 years, the worldwide trend is clear – democracy is sought worldwide.
 
In 1950 there were an estimated 85 independent nations in the world – in 2024, that number stands at 197. 
 
Democracy in Decline 
But over the last decade, the trendline has started to blur.
 
The latest report from International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance) – a group formed 30 years ago to “support democracy around the world” – maintains that democracy worldwide is in decline, and they’ve declared the U.S. to be a “backsliding democracy.”
 
Explains IDEA, “Democracy is still in trouble, stagnant at best, and declining in many places.” They point to a recent six-year pattern of decline as “the longest of this kind since our records began in 1975.”  
 
IDEA reports, “There have been dispiriting and tragic outbreaks of civil war or state collapse in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Haiti, Myanmar and Sudan. The GSoD (Global State of Democracy) Indices have also documented the entrenchment of authoritarianism in Belarus, Cambodia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Russia, Venezuela and elsewhere.” 
 
Amid these harsh realities, they do share two bright lights: corruption falling worldwide and “surprisingly high levels of political participation.” 
 
IDEA was formed in 1995 by 14 nations (the U.S. not among them) with a simple mandate: to support sustainable democracy worldwide.
 
In their 2023 annual report – an exquisitely detailed 210 pages – they rank democratic trends in every continent, and every nation, on four overarching criteria (and 29 indices):
 
● Rights – civil liberties (e.g., freedom of expression, movement, religion); 
● Rule of Law – predictable enforcement, judicial independence, absence of corruption. 
● Participation – electoral participation, civil engagement; and 
● Representation – credible elections, inclusive suffrage. 
 
Is Polarization to Blame? 
If indeed the U.S. is regressing, it’s easy to blame the current heightened polarization. But that may be too simple an answer.
 
Though many regard polarization in a negative light, several analysts point to its benefits.
 
Notes Isabel Cholbi, in her piece titled The Positives of Political Polarization, “Opposing opinions may seem frustrating in the short term. Yet, we must remember that pluralism is fundamentally good for democracy.” 
 
Explains Robert Talisse, political philosopher, author and podcast host of “Why We Argue”, “Democracy presupposes political disagreement. A democracy without political divides is no democracy at all.”
 
Political vs. Belief Polarization
Talisse maintains that “belief polarization” – not “political polarization” – is the problem.
 
He defines political polarization as “the ideological distance between opposed parties,” whereas belief polarization (i.e., group polarization) creates incentives for politicians to fan the flames. 
 
In Talisse’s words, “Belief polarization is toxic for citizens’ relations with one another. When the citizenry is divided into two clans that are fixated on animus against the other, politicians have incentives to amplify hostility toward their partisan opponents.” And as beliefs solidify, people “grow less able to navigate disagreement,” and eventually develop “into citizens who believe that democracy is possible only when everyone agrees with them. That is a profoundly antidemocratic stance.”
 
Can we respectfully disagree? 
The task, concludes Talisse, is “to render people’s political differences more civil, to reestablish the ability to respectfully disagree.” 
 
I respectfully agree. 
 

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