The Crisis of Democracy in the United States
The revolution that birthed the United States of America was a triumph over the feudal system and the aristocracy. (Although from a class perspective, the founders were kind of like aristocrats.) This caused a reemergence of democracy not seen in the Western world since the ancient Greek and Roman republics.
But the USA’s version was, and is, a bourgeois form of democracy. It could be said that it is a degree of democracy because it’s been overshadowed by the rule of capital. And democracy and capitalism are not compatible when it comes down to it. Democracy and socialism are more compatible. After, Karl Marx once wrote that democracy is the road to socialism.
The USA’s State Department came out with a document entitled, “Human Rights and Democracy.” In the document, there is the promotion of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL).
The document begins with the following statement:
“The protection of fundamental human rights was a foundation stone in the establishment of the United States over 200 years ago.” But the foundation was selective, based on a monopoly of power for white males who were part of the well-to-do class, had property, and had the right to vote, contrary to other people who didn’t have those “rights.”
The document then states, “…a central goal of U.S. foreign policy has been the promotion of respect for human rights, as embodied in the Universal Declaration of human Rights.” But the USA has had an imperial foreign policy that has violated that declaration repeatedly, despite the degree of democracy.
Additionally, “Supporting democracy not only promotes such fundamental American values as religious freedom and worker rights, but also helps create a more secure, stable, and prosperous global arena in the United States can advance its national interests.” What this indicates is the continuance of a superiority complex that promotes the idea that the USA is THE absolute democracy. But this supposed monopoly on democracy really doesn’t allow other countries to chart their own versions of the concept.
Plus, the USA has not advanced its national interests globally. It has advanced its ultra-national interests; and usually other countries, especially in the Global South, have suffered the consequences based on the agenda of the current world order.
The USA has been putting out an annual report on the human rights situation in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In turn, the PRC returned the favor by putting out its own report on the human rights situation and the state of democracy in the USA. It covered the year 2022. But the situation in the USA is basically the same as it was then.
There are many in the West, especially in the USA, who view the information publicized by the PRC as simply propaganda. The report, however, does cite various sources, including Western sources. And it does bring out inconvenient truths.
The entirety of the report can be seen here.
But here is the preamble of the report:
“In 2022, the vicious cycle of democratic pretensions, dysfunctional politics and a divided society continued in the United States. Problems such as money politics, identity politics, social rifts, and the gulf between the rich and poor worsened. The maladies afflicting American democracy deeply infected the cells of US politics and society, and further revealed US governance failure and institutional defects.
“Despite mounting problems at home, the US continued to behave with a sense of superiority, point fingers at others, usurp the role of a ‘lecturer of democracy,’ and concoct and play up the false narrative of ‘democracy versus authoritarianism.’ To serve the interests of none other but itself, the US acted to split the world into two camps of what it defined as ‘democracies and non-democracies,’ and organized another edition of the so-called ‘Summit for Democracy’ to check how various countries had performed on meeting US standards of democracy and to issue new orders. Be it high-sounding rhetoric or maneuvers driven by a hidden agenda, none can hide the real designs of the US – to maintain its hegemony by playing bloc politics and using democracy as a tool for political ends.
“This report collects a multitude of facts, media comments and expert opinions to present a complete and real picture of American democracy over the year. What they reveal is an American democracy in chaos at home and a trail of havoc and disasters left behind as the US peddled and imposed democracy around the globe. It helps to remove the façade of American democracy for more people worldwide.”
And here is the conclusion of the report:
“Democracy is humanity’s common value; however, there is no single model of political system that is applicable to all countries in the world. Human civilization, if compared to a garden, should be a diverse place in which democracy in different countries blooms like a hundred flowers. The US has American-style democracy, China has Chinese-style democracy, and other countries have their own models of democracy that suit their respective national conditions. The few self-righteous countries have no right to point fingers.
“Those who have many flaws themselves have little credibility to lecture others. Attempts to undermine others for one’s own profit and destabilize the world must be unanimously opposed. A black-and-white division of countries as democratic or authoritarian is both anachronistic and arbitrary. What our world needs today is not to stoke division in the name of democracy and pursue de facto supremacy-oriented unilateralism, but to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and uphold true multilateralism on the basis of the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
“What our world needs today is not to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs under the guise of democracy, but to advocate genuine democracy, reject pseudo-democracy and jointly promote greater democracy in international relations. What our world needs today is not a ‘Summit for Democracy’ that hypes up confrontation and contributes nothing to the collective response to global challenges, but a conference of solidarity that focuses on taking real actions to solve prominent global challenges.
“Freedom, democracy and human rights are the common pursuit of humanity, and values that the Communist Party of China (CPC) always pursues. China commits to and advances whole-process people’s democracy, and puts into action the principle of people running the country in the CPC’s exercise of national governance in specific and concrete ways. China stands ready to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning with other countries on the issue of democracy, advocate humanity’s common values of peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, promote greater democracy in international relations, and make new and greater contributions to human progress.”
The last paragraph may sound rhetorical and overly-glorified. It should be said that no one and no country are exempt from criticism. And the CPC isn’t as pure as the driven snow. But many of the members are perhaps sincere. And the PRC is playing the role of peace-maker in the world.
The PRC’s report may coincide with the opinions of U.S. citizens regarding the state of democracy in the U.S. The PBS NewsHour published a piece from the Associated Press revealing what U.S. citizens think, based on a poll conducted by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research:
“Only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults give high ratings to the way democracy is working in the United States or how well it represents the interests of most Americans.
“Majorities of adults say U.S. laws and policies do a poor job of representing what most Americans want ranging from the economy and government spending to gun policy, immigration and abortion. The poll shows 53 percent say Congress is doing a bad job of upholding democratic values, compared with just 16 percent who say it’s doing a good job.
“The findings illustrate widespread political alienation as a polarized country limps out of the pandemic and into a recovery haunted by inflation and fears of a recession. Overall, about half the country – 49 percent – say democracy is not working well in the United States, compared with 10 percent who say it’s working very or extremely well and 40 percent only somewhat well. About half also say each of the political parties is doing a bad job of upholding democracy, including 47 percent who say that about Democrats and even more – 56 percent – about Republicans.
“And views are even more negative when it comes to specific issues: About two-thirds of adults say policies on immigration, government spending, abortion policy and gun policy are not representative of most Americans’ views, and nearly that many say the same about the economy as well as gender identity and LGBTQ+ issues. More than half also say policies poorly reflect what Americans want on healthcare and the environment.”
Thus, the PRC report does somewhat reflect the state of democracy in the USA.
What do U.S. citizens think about the PRC? There would probably be negative responses. After all, U.S. citizens have been conditioned to think that the PRC is “evil” and “repressive.” This is due to decades of propaganda bombarding the U.S. population practically every day.
But it is true that the PRC has had its share of problems. Historically, there have been incidents of repression, bad economic decisions and an over-emphasis on ideology, for example, during the Cultural Revolution. Shades of gray do exist, however. The PRC has evolved over the years. It is promoting a multi-polar world, which is an improvement over a bi-polar world characterized by USA imperialism.
There was an article published in CounterPunch by Rob Urie entitled “Capitalism is Antithetical to Democracy.” Urie analyzes the how power is practiced within the USA in relation to democracy. He writes about liberal democracy and that “committed liberals” are wary of fascism being a threat. But Urie adds that that misses the point since “a plurality of Americans believe that corporate and oligarchic power have already compromised ‘our democracy.’ Urie doesn’t ignore the threat of fascism. “It is to state that many so accused are powerless, whereas corporate executives and oligarchs have the power to force corporate autocracy onto the US.”
Urie points out that “power has long been a blind spot for liberal theory. It is necessary to take political action, but it’s “not sufficient” to affect political outcomes. Were “economic power” to be implemented, it could be said that the USA is a Republic, “a representative democracy.” But Urie writes that “the US has spent the last five decades concentrating incomes, wealth and with then power, in a remarkably small number of hands. An oligarchy isn’t a Republic.”
The small number of individuals who embrace private monopoly are both a symptom of capitalist rule. The masses are tied up in “feeding” these individuals and thus their monopolies while that reinforces “the national mythology” that the masses are benefiting from this arrangement. That generally isn’t the reality.
While there is the right to vote, or so-called right, given voter suppression, wealth dominates the electoral process. Those elected, essentially bought and paid for, really represent the oligarchy rather than the interests of the working class and poor.
But, “Regardless of whether or not you believe that politicians represent the interests of the American people, a large plurality of Americans apparently doesn’t…” If there was a chance for the masses to achieve what can be called “direct democracy,” what kind of response would they express? They could, in theory at least, vote out corrupt politicians. But Urie asks, “how about when the entire system is failing? Indeed, as too few have too much, too many have too little.
Urie brings up neoliberalism, calling it “ad hoc and opportunistic.” There is the protection of “free” markets that neoliberals favor. But free for whom to do what? Free for those who are of the oligarchic class protecting and expanding private monopolies, that is, the rule of capital.
Urie writes, “In liberal theory, citizens are able to change the form and function of the state through elections. In reality, the permanent state now determines the contours of elections.” Another way of putting it: the capitalist state and its’ allies, big corporations, determine the outcome of elections in the bottom line. However, there is a degree of power voters exercise where there are occasions when the desired candidates get elected. That is, those candidates who are actually sincere in promoting the general welfare of the working class and poor, and, thus, the health of the country. That is an example of the degree of democracy in the USA.
But this degree of democracy is not enough. Not while the rule of capital is the bottom-line determiner of policies. Money is not simply used in transactions. It is worshipped.
Urie provides the following suggestion:
“The Marxist solution, the elimination of income and wealth disparities through full social participation for all, fits the liberal democratic ideal while placing economic relations at the center of freedom and democracy. Urie’s conclusion? “Socialism is democratic. In fact, it is the only plausible route to democracy.” To reiterate, Karl Marx had this process the other way around, writing, “Democracy is the road to socialism.”
In the future, will the USA adopt its own version of socialism based on its particular conditions? With the bourgeois form of democracy being overshadowed by the rule of capital, it may be worth striving for.
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