Statue of Liberty mediacitygroove.com
By Alex Gonzalez, producer/reporter, Arizona News Connection, a bureau of Public News Service.
Recently, the Arizona Court of Appeals dismissed a case to decertify the results of the 2022 general election. It was brought by Republican Arizona attorney general candidate Abraham Hamadeh, Republican Cochise County Supervisor Tom Crosby, and an independent voter.
The 2024 presidential election is highly contentious. Therefore, experts believe, challenges to the results will likely occur.
Harvard University government professor Steven Levitsky said the dysfunction in American democracy and erosion of civil discourse are cause for serious concern.
Republicans and Democrats
“There are a lot of sources of dysfunction in U.S. democracy,” he said, “but I think the principal threat right now is that one of our two major parties has turned away from democratic rules of the game.”
Levitsky said democracy can’t survive if only one party is committed to abiding by democratic ideals. He added that all parties must accept the results of elections, reject the use of political violence, and be willing to break from violent or anti-democratic groups.
Experts say short-term solutions include more investments to safeguard election administration. Also, they encourage long-term fixes, such as reforming how businesses engage in U.S. politics.
Levitsky called the United States the most “counter-majoritarian democracy” in the world. He said it is the only established democracy where partisan minorities can thwart and sometimes even govern over majorities. He points out Donald Trump became president despite losing the popular vote in 2016. Also, the Republicans gained control of the Senate.
“That president and that Senate went on to appoint and confirm three Supreme Court justices, which means that if we were like other established democracies, and the parties that one the most votes won the most power, we’d have a 6-3 liberal majority on the Supreme Court today,” he said. “That is how out of whack our institutions are.”
Most Americans believe elected leaders are on the wrong track
More than 80% of Americans feel elected officials are out of touch with their needs and wants. That’s according to the Pew Research Center. The survey claims only 4% of Americans think the country’s political system is working well.
The Carnegie Corporation of New York provided support for this reporting.
