The Sum Total

“History is a vast early warning system,” wrote Norman Cousins in the World Two era and it’s time we revisited that observation.    In fact, a number of academics already are.

Larry Diamond is struggling with what he’s witnessing.  The highly regarded political sociologist from Stanford University specializing in the study of democracy has been talking with others in his field and has arrived at the conclusion that there is no real historical precedent for what we are witnessing in America.  That admission didn’t come easy for him.  Recently he confessed that, “I never thought we’d be so close to a breakdown.”

But isn’t history full of such precedents?  No really, he notes, adding, “We have never seen such a longstanding democracy in such a rich country break down before — never. But it could happen this year.”  The sight of a current president calling for his political rivals to be “locked up” or “arrested” isn’t something Americans have had to endure, and yet millions of Americans are warming up to that kind of sentiment.  When the leader of a country rants against the very electoral system that the nation depends on for permitting a fair selection of its leaders or for the orderly transfer of power, this isn’t only trouble but a fundamental attack against one of democracy’s pillars.

It goes further, sadly.  Freedom of the press, fundamental to democracy no matter where it is practiced is also square in the sights of Donald Trump attacks.  Last evening’s meltdown display by a president excoriating most major media networks simply because they accurately aired the running vote counts in key states was just another example of how serious things are getting for the democratic spirit.  As Diamond observes, this charge was being laid against a free press that as actually doing its job in recent years exposing the failings and fallacies of an imperial presidency.

The sociologist is especially concerned over the president’s relentless attacks on the rule of law, citing attacks on constitutional leaders, FBI and CIA heads, intelligence officials, police chiefs, judges, military commanders and a string of attorneys general.  That’s pretty serious stuff and has never been seen before to any such degree in American history.  Trump’s scourge also included heads of civil society and public servants. It emerged in strongest terms last evening when one of the president's former campaign managers, Steve Bannon, called for the "beheading" Trump's opposition.

Never before have the American people watched a president coddle leaders of hostile countries overseas at the same time as he belittled allies and his own military decision makers.  It is fully unprecedented.

Through its entire checkered history, however, the country has never had to endure such vicious attacks on the very electoral system itself.  The president’s attacks on numerous aspects of the election process last evening ultimately led to leaders from his own party speaking out against his extreme words.  There have always been differences among the political parties, but the sacredness of the electoral system, and the deeply held respect for the transfer of power, eventually made itself felt yesterday, but it was because such attacks from the leader of America were unprecedented.

And what can we say about the rigid attempts at voter suppression endured during this contest?  Attempts to control the vote and demanding that it be stopped in places where it was clear that the president was in danger of losing have never been so universal in American history.  Trump’s attacks to limit people’s access to ballot boxes or to deny their votes being counted at all were so stark and obvious that nothing like such a practice has been observed previously on a national stage.

The momentum for undermining democracy altogether is gaining strength in America, not slowly disappearing.  Three of the last seven presidential contests have ended with the victor capturing the majority of the Electoral College while at the same time losing the popular vote.  The fact that it is becoming more regular is a sign that the will of the people is increasingly becoming undermined by political partisanship and election manipulation.  

So, yes, Diamond is worried but also prescient, as when he concludes:

“Today, we are far closer to a breakdown than most democracy experts, myself included, would have dared anticipate just a few years ago. Even if we are spared the worst, it is long past time to renew the mechanisms of our democracy, learn from other democracies around the world and again make our republic a shining city on a hill.”

It might have taken someone as nakedly narcissistic as Donald Trump to call out democracy’s weaknesses, but it’s important to remember that he got almost half of all votes cast in Election 2020.  That means if you are going to the look to the people to fix what ails democracy in America you might get the same result.

Konrad Adenauer was the first Chancellor of West Germany following World War Two and knew a thing or two about democracy and its enemies.  Perhaps if all democracies had taken his following advice seriously, experts like Diamond wouldn’t be so hard-pressed:  “History is the sum total of the things that could have been avoided.”