What is the state of American democracy? As July 4th nears, poll shows voters are worried
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
What is the state of American democracy? As July 4th nears, poll shows voters are worried
As the country celebrates July 4 with a looming presidential contest, an overwhelming majority fret that U.S. democracy has been irreparably harmed.
The United States will blow out 247 birthday candles this year, but many Americans aren’t in a celebratory mood.
Polls show there is little excitement about the current 2024 presidential front-runners and there is a lingering alarm about U.S. institutions .
In all, 7 out of 10 Americans agree with the statement that American democracy is "imperiled," according to a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll conducted ahead of Independence Day.
The fallout from the Jan. 6 insurrection coupled with concerns about the rise of artificial intelligence and other barriers to the ballot box has many Americans biting their nails and asking if the state of democracy can be improved as the country hurtles into another presidential election that promises to be more divisive.
What happens next will largely be decided by the results of the 2024 presidential election and other down-ballot races. To get ready, more states are taking steps to expand the vote and protect poll workers in 2023 compared with states working to make it harder to vote, according to expert analysis. Legislators and other advocates say those shifts represent a vibrant and growing pro-democracy movement.
Why are Americans losing faith in democracy?
In the past two election cycles, the fundamentals of democracy have faced significant threats, fueled largely by persistent lies from former President Donald Trump and his allies about whether he truly lost the 2020 contest (he did, according to Republican and Democratic election leaders across the nation).
Those denials ignited a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but also fueled a number of states to pursue more restrictive voting laws in the name of election security. In the months that followed, hundreds of election deniers were inspired to seek public office , and although many failed to win they remain a part of the national conversation .
Pro-democracy advocates point to those losses in the 2022 midterm election as a sign of how seriously voters take the current health of the nation's democracy.
"In recent elections, the majority of the people have sent a clear message: they wholly reject anti-democratic election denialism and want their basic rights protected,” former Attorney General Eric Holder, who has spearheaded a Democratic-led initiative on redistricting, told USA TODAY.
“They want a truly representative democracy and the rights that should come with that," he added.
Voting rights depend largely on 'where you live'
At least 13 states have enacted about 15 restrictive voting rights laws in total this year, according to the Brennan Center for Justice , a nonpartisan policy group. Seven laws seek to curb access to mail voting, for instance, which was popular during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After the 2020 elections, 14 states passed 22 restrictive laws in 2021.
"Where we're heading in terms of our democracy and voting rights depends a lot on which state you're in and increasingly, where you live rather than everybody in America having the same experience," said Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the Brennan Center's Voting Rights division.
At the same time, legislators in 15 states took steps this year toward expanding voting rights. Of those, 23 measures made ballot access safer and easier, such as automatic voter registration, restoring voting rights for people upon their release from prison and imposing criminal penalties for intimidating poll workers, who saw a rise in threats .
Minnesota, armed with a new Democratic "trifecta" in control of its state government, passed some of the most progressive voting laws in the country this year. It implemented automatic voter registration for residents once they turn 18, allowed pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds and created a permanent absentee voter list that sends a ballot to residents who sign up.
"The violent insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, really shocked the conscience of many voters," Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman told USA TODAY. "What we found on the campaign trail, both in anecdotal stories from door knocking and from the data we collected from polling, was that voters were really concerned about our democracy in light of those incidents."
Republicans and Democrats are worried about future of American democracy
The current health of U.S. democracy is something Americans agree about across the board, according to the USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll. It shows 74% of Democrats agree that "democracy is imperiled." About 75% of Republicans agree and 66% of independents.
"This question does not cut off on political party," said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center. "In fact, it's a validation that all political factions, whether you're in the left, right or in the middle, feel that democracy is imperiled, and that's pretty powerful."
Larry Skinner, 72, a retired financial analyst and longtime Republican supporter from Riverside, California, said he remembers when President Ronald Reagan "worked well" with Democratic Speaker Tip O'Neill in the 1980s to get legislation passed in Congress. These days, Skinner, who's been married for 54 years and has three adult children and nine grandchildren. said there is "no road to compromise," between the political parties.
Skinner would like to see less of politicians "from both parties making statements that clearly are not accurate. That makes so sense to me."
Patrice Jackson, 48, a public school teacher for 18 years and GOP backer from Chester, Pennsylvania, also said she wants less contentiousness in Washington.
"Can we please try to be more kind to one another, regardless of your party affiliation?" Jackson asks. "Can we reprioritize and focus on what the important issues are?"
First-term New Hampshire State Rep. Angie Brennan is a Democrat in a state that has a high concentration of registered independent voters. Strengthening the nation's democracy heavily depends on voter participation by removing barriers to the ballot box and proposing measures such as no-excuse absentee voting to ensure their constitutional rights, Brennan said.
"We all have a responsibility to fight for the future of our democracy," she said. "It’s going to take all of us coming together to increase access and opportunities to vote. The future of our democracy depends on hope, humanity, and hard work and I’m not giving up on any of that."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is the state of American democracy? As July 4th nears, poll shows voters are worried
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This is where two or three decades of right wing conspiracy theories and irresponsible right wing media have left this country. Dazed and confused and bamboozled.
Certainly agree with this. Disagree on the main source of those threats.
Kooky progressive policies represent a much, much greater threat to our union and liberty than Trump could even begin to muster.
Much greater.
The left is still droning on about Jan 6th.
Funny how they forget the Summer of Love; CHAZ/CHOP (talk about a real insurrection); and Democrats weaponizing the IRS/DOJ/FBI against their political opponents.
Attacking the country with the leftist Brown Shirts in the streets; and their political opponents with the federal government.
There is a lot to worry about; and it all stems from the Democrats.
CHAZ: A protest against excessive police force that undermined the police in part of their city. This occurred because progress was too slow on a decades old problem.
J6: A planned, violent attack on the seat of our government meant to nullify a valid presidential election in the service of one man who lost and used conspiracy theories to create a cult base of morons who believed the electoral system was corrupt. This did not address some long standing problem with our electoral system, just the loss of one election by one PoS who would burn the country down in his own service.
Try vetting your representatives, you'll find that's the actual cause of this misconception. Remember, over the last 56 years, there were 40 times as many convictions of members of Republican presidential administrations as Democratic.
Today the Supreme Court voted 6-3 not to grant states the right to destroy democracy. Lots of headlines were like "Supremes save democracy".
What is more significant is that THREE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES voted to allow states to be undemocratic.
Trump is the Biggest Loser in Moore v. Harper
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By Michael C. Dorf - June 27, 2023
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amazing. all those conspiracy theories about Trump justices acting as partisan enforcers for the Republican party and yet again, the Court rejects the maximalist position progressive "experts" think it will. .
Years of idiotic lies believed by millions disproved yet again. Of course, should one ruling not go the progressive way, it will, of course, be illegitimate and necessitate dismantling the Court and installing progressives to "save democracy".
If only the liberals could point out an instance where "their" justices didn't vote as a block. Partisan shills everyone.
Kind of takes the wind out of their stack the court sails
The Democrats have spent 20 years waging wars on elections. Every time they lose the election was rigged. In fact, some declared democracy ended in 2014 after a particularly brutal rejection by the voters. The war on legitimacy has included a decade or so of attacking the Supreme Court, including threats of violence from the majority leader, refusing to enforce laws to protect justices, threatening court packing to overturn decisions, members of Congress advising the President to simply ignore Court rulings and a coordinated media assault on justices and their families.
Undergirding all this, the really ignorant have been so brainwashed as to believe capitalism causes poverty. They are literally so ignorant of basic world history that they they believe the system that has done more than any other to lift humans out of poverty is somehow oppressing them. How can democracy function when people that misinformed vote?
Of course capitalism causes poverty, what do you think a minimum wage is? In capitalism there will always be people who are the lowest paid, or the unemployed. Always.
That is not to say that capitalism is all bad or that it is not an improvement over slavery and feudalism, but an economic underclass is not only built in, it is inevitable. That is why we need a strong social safety net.
Are the lowest paid people in a society poor, or not ?
The economic condition of every person in the country is tied to their worth to capitalism. The idea that capitalism does not create poverty is silly.
I do agree though, that it is the best idea about economy that we have available, but it has to be heavily regulated and taxed.
So poverty didn't exist before capitalism?
By all means, see how long you can live in a poverty free pre capitalist society. You'll almost certainly be a serf or a slave. Even if you are actually one of the few percent with some actual freedom and somehow manage not be be violently killed in a society that is much more violent than a modern capitalist one, or die of any number of diseases that have been extinguished thanks to capitalism , you still can't even go to the bathroom indoors.
For the USA, with a top five median income in the world, reality disagrees with you.
You have been spouting this nonsense for a few years now. All the Democratic complaints about elections in the past 50 years dont equal what Trump and his cult did in 2020 (and beyond).
Year after year, decade after decade of saying elections are corrupt is what laid the ground for Trump. Without Democrats in Congress calling elections "coups" or stolen by voting machines, Trump isn't possible.
MAGA are a clear and present danger to the USA!
It is like this, people. Steve Bannon, the MAGA grifter, was arrested off the coast of France while on the yacht of a Chinese billionare for fraud, money laundering, theft and general dishonesty for stealing funds sent by people to ( build the wall ). Well, he's still free, he is pardoned by the ( wall manager ) and people continue to send the MAGA grifters their hard earned money. See this for what it is when you tout the value of American democracy. Apparently there are some that don't want it, don't need it and could care less.