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ONE of the most interesting books I read during the confinement was How to prepare an election by Nic Cheeseman and Brian Klaas. The authors, one British and the other American, illustrated various forms with respect to a full spectrum of regimes that span “electoral democracy” from “competitive authoritarian” to “closed authoritarian”. While the possible role of the digital frontier and the spread of fake news in an attempt to manipulate the 2016 U.S. elections was discussed, along with examples of political bribery, violence, ballot-filling, etc. In different parts of the world, the authors’ focus was primarily on the flaws of the developing world and post-Soviet countries.
Clearly the 2020 US presidential election could provide more material should they decide to revise your book. For example, if Donald Trump is asked, they will learn more about possible “illegal” votes and how “four in the morning” ballots can be found in Pennsylvania. On the other hand, Biden’s campaign can illustrate how a sitting president can try to stop counting the ballots! Weren’t all these characteristics of competitive authoritarian countries where a ruler is often reluctant to lose power?
It is certainly a tense battle for the White House in 2020. Yet twenty years ago it was ‘too close to call’, which is arguably one of the most significant periods in American history, when a long and bitter legal battle sealed the electoral fate. of the state of Florida and, indeed, of the presidential elections of the United States. However, there was no accusation of “stealing” the elections in 2000. Two decades later, the world has changed a lot; This is truly an after-truth world where a sitting American president tells his nation: “If legal votes count, I win easily. If they count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us. “He even tried to turn any suggestion that he had lost into” a fraud to the American public. “
Possibly Trump was not very comfortable with the idea of his electoral defeat. Previously, on multiple occasions, he refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power in the event of an electoral defeat. However, how to accept defeat is of the utmost importance in all aspects of life and also in politics. Certainly, not many sitting US presidents failed their reelection bid: Trump will be only the 11th in America’s 231-year presidential history.
How shameful were Trump’s false victory claims and demands to avoid the vote count? Let’s see how others have faced defeat in the past. Jimmy Carter conceded defeat to Ronald Reagan in 1980 with grace and class by pledging his “fullest support” for Reagan and saying, “The people of the United States have made their decision and I, of course, accept their decision. But I must admit that not with the same enthusiasm that I accepted it four years ago ”. All right, Mr. Carter.
Republican President George HW Bush also acknowledged Bill Clinton’s defeat in 1992 by telling his supporters that “the people have spoken” and that he respects “the majesty of the democratic system.” Once again, it was not long ago that Republican presidential candidate John McCain, though not a sitting president, accepted his defeat to Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential race with the reaction: “The American people have spoken, and they have spoken. clearly. “These are in stark contrast to Trump’s pronouncements.
This election has exhibited multiple loopholes and vulnerabilities in American democracy, no doubt. Trump’s comments would invariably cast doubt among millions of ordinary Americans about his institutions and democratic system. In addition, it could undermine the position of the United States by pointing out electoral irregularities in different Asian, African, post-Soviet and Eastern European countries.
Certainly not even all Republicans are buying into Trump’s ideas. For example, Texas Congressman Will Hurd tweeted: “A sitting president who undermines our political process and questions the legality of the voices of countless Americans without evidence is not only dangerous and wrong, but undermines the foundation on which it was built. this nation. ” Yes, Mr. Trump, also listen to Republican strategist Karl Rove: “Stealing hundreds of thousands of votes would require a conspiracy on the scale of a James Bond movie. That’s not going to happen “.
A Donald Trump closing the White House door from the inside, refusing to leave or let Biden in, trying to stop counting the ballots and knocking on the doors of the courts in various states on all kinds of accusations, can be an aberration. The system of a nation should not be judged on that. Yet here is a sitting American president apparently showing signs of authoritarianism, as commented by a portion of the American media itself, by refusing to admit defeat. Instead, it is degrading the democratic base and democratic institutions of the country. The reality is that nearly half of Americans have backed Trumpism in his reelection bid despite his mishandling of the coronavirus crisis and having injected discord into a society that is already polarized along partisan and racial lines.
When a 5-4 US Supreme Court ruling against a vote recount sealed the fate of Florida (and, indeed, the US) in 2000, unsurprisingly, the recently The late Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the ‘Notorious RBG’, was among the four judges. who disagreed. Judge Ginsburg decided to simply sign with a “dissent” without writing the word “respectfully.” To maintain the glory of its institutions, the United States urgently needs the dissident spirit and style of Justice Ginsburg in its current society. – Sunrise / ANN
The author is Professor of Statistics, Indian Institute of Statistics, Kolkata.
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