this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2024
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Democracy

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What is Democracy?

Democracy is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choose governing officials to do so ("representative democracy"). Who is considered part of "the people" and how authority is shared among or delegated by the people has changed over time and at different rates in different countries. Features of democracy often include freedom of assembly, association, property rights, freedom of religion and speech, citizenship, consent of the governed, voting rights, freedom from unwarranted governmental deprivation of the right to life and liberty, and minority rights. (from Wikipedia)

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The United States faces elections viewed as illegitimate, skyrocketing threats against elected politicians and election officials, and hate crime rates that are now among the highest in this century. What is causing this turmoil, and how do the thousands of people and organizations working to advance democracy help the country get out of this cycle of distrust, hatred, and violence that is convulsing our political and civic life?

The U.S. is testing the waters of a political realignment, as political parties see new opportunities amidst shifts in the country’s demography, economics, and public opinion. The peculiarities of America’s political system mean that this fight for new voters is incentivizing violence and electoral manipulation, just as earlier realignments did. Many on the left hope that the current crisis will end if a Democratic Party that is consistently committed to democracy and the rule of law wins decisively for a significant period of time, cementing a majority that is too solid to be undermined by the MAGA faction’s dirty tricks and threats. While necessary, that will not be sufficient.

Violence and electoral suppression are likely to continue until the parties complete their realignment in such a way that stirring our nation’s core fissure of racial and ethnic hatred is no longer a useful way for Republicans to generate votes, write Rachel Kleinfeld, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she focuses on troubled democracies facing violence and polarization, and Brendan Hartnett, research associate at Longwell Partners.

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