Lessons In Democracy From The US Elections

For democracy's defenders, Trump's re-election ought to serve as a catalyst for a deeper reckoning to work toward a more responsive and accountable democracy

- Yamini Aiyar

Donald Trump's re-election as President of the United States (US) has reignited debate on the key questions of our times. The global rise of Right-wing populists, who gain power via the ballot box but have limited regard for democratic norms, suggests that beyond its minimalist criterion i.e. citizens freely electing governments, democracy is in trouble. Phrases like illiberal democracy, electoral autocracy, and democratic recession have entered the lexicon to explain this phenomenon. Until Trump's victory, 2024, a year when nearly 40% of the world population headed to the ballot box, was being billed as the year of some democratic respite. Trump's victory, however, has raised the stakes. It serves as a reminder of just how disenchanted the majority is with the status quo and the credibility of democratic institutions of representative institutions to be truly representative. A robust resilient defence of democracy must confront this reality.

Trump rode to power whilst being remarkably forthright in his disregard for democratic norms, challenging the legitimacy of the electoral process, promising to persecute his "enemies from within" while overseeing the largest deportation programme in American history, mixing in along the way large doses of racism and misogyny.

It is well established in democratic theory that democratic erosion occurs when institutional manipulation entrenches a particular political actor or party in power. Trump's electoral rhetoric and the tenor of his early appointments, suggested that democratic erosion is inevitable.