There is a recent Op/Ed article in the New York Times, written by Michael Tomasky which came out earlier this month. The title, I think, speaks volumes. This is it:
Do the Republicans Even Believe in Democracy Anymore?
This headline in a recent New York Times Op/Ed piece pretty much says it all. Indeed, many people, myself included, have been wondering very much the same thing. When so many Republicans not only continue to support Donald Trump, but adamantly refuse to criticize him on even minor things, and allow him to continue conducting himself, and governing the nation, in a very authoritarian, clearly anti-democratic manner, you really have to wonder if they have been harboring anti-democratic sentiments for a while, and have now simply shed themselves of the pretense of believing in democracy.
This is how Tomasky begins his article:
A number of observers, myself included, have written pieces in recent years arguing that the Republican Party is no longer simply trying to compete with and defeat the Democratic Party on a level playing field. Today, rather than simply playing the game, the Republicans are simultaneously trying to rig the game’s rules so that they never lose. The aggressive gerrymandering, which the Supreme Court just declared to be a matter beyond its purview; the voter suppression schemes; the dubious proposals that haven’t gone anywhere — yet — like trying to award presidential electoral votes by congressional district rather than by state, a scheme that Republicans in five states considered after the 2012 election and that is still discussed: These are not ideas aimed at invigorating democracy. They are hatched and executed for the express purpose of essentially fixing elections.
We have been brought up to believe that American political parties are the same — that they are similar creatures with similar traits and similar ways of behaving. Political science spent decades teaching us this. The idea that one party has become so radically different from the other, despite mountains of evidence, is a tough sell. It’s a hard sell to make for one very simple reason: It doesn’t have a name, this thing the Republicans are trying to do. It’s not true democracy that they want. But it’s also a bit much to call them outright authoritarians. And there’s nothing in between.
Just in case you were wondering, that would be mostly the Republicans behind this orchestrated erosion of American democracy. That said, the Democrats have been a bit too timid, at best, and let's face it: blatantly corrupt and complicit in a de facto manner in many cases, at worst, to actually fight this unfortunate turn by the Republican party. Thus, it has contributed, indirectly, to the erosion of American democracy, even if this is being mostly driven by the GOP:
There is a "2010 book called “Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes After the Cold War,” by Steven Levitsky and Lucan A. Way. If you pay close attention to such things, you will recognize Mr. Levitsky’s name — he was a co-author, with Daniel Ziblatt, of last year’s book “How Democracies Die,” which sparked much discussion. “Competitive Authoritarianism” deserves to do the same.
What defines competitive authoritarian states? They are “civilian regimes in which formal democratic institutions exist and are widely viewed as the primary means of gaining power, but in which incumbents’ abuse of the state places them at a significant advantage vis-à-vis their opponents.”
Sound like anyone you know?
But no one person could grab all of that power without help. And that is why the Republican party is primarily to blame for bringing this more rigid authoritarian version of democracy into political vogue, at least at this moment in this country's history. Levistky says:
“Recent Republican behavior — from the 2016 stolen Supreme Court seat to the legislative shenanigans that followed gubernatorial defeats in North Carolina and Wisconsin to voter suppression efforts across numerous states — suggests a party whose commitment to democratic politics has weakened. The fact that the Republican Party has grown increasingly authoritarian poses a greater threat to American democracy than Donald Trump.”
On a more promising note, Mr. Levitsky also said that it is not too late...yet. But we are getting closer to that edge. Here is a quote by Levitsky, with a comment on it by Tomansky afterward:
“For all of its unfairness and growing dysfunction, American democracy has not slid into competitive authoritarianism,” he told me. “The playing field between Democrats and Republicans remains reasonably level.”
So we’re not there right now. But we may well be on the way, and it’s abundantly clear who wants to take us there.
If you can, do yourself a favor and read this Op/Ed piece by Tomasky. Because we really are losing our democracy, and the way things are going lately, it might be a lost cause before too long, if people do not start waking up to this reality, and fast. Here is the link:
Do the Republicans Even Believe in Democracy Anymore? They pay lip service to it, but they actively try to undermine its institutions. by Michael Tomasky By Michael Tomasky Contributing Opinion Writer , July 1, 2019:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/
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