The Many Dangers That Democracy Confronts Today

Many countries are seeing a rise in tendencies that go against democratic values

- SHASHI SHEKHAR

Here is how US representative Marjorie Taylor Greene responded to Sky News television correspondent Martha Kelner from the UK when the latter raised a question regarding the Signal chat leak at a press conference: "Okay, we don't give a crap about your opinion and your reporting. Why don't you go back to your country where you have a major migrant problem? ... You should care about your own borders."

No one would have expected such harsh, divisive, and disgraceful utterances from a powerful representative of the US. But this is the new America ruled by Donald Trump and confidantes. Trump and colleagues are not only causing geopolitical upheavals but also trying to impose their will within their country. The biggest example is Trump's threat to impeach judges. Their crime? They have dared to pass rulings against his executive orders.

Nobel laureate Prof. Joseph Stiglitz has said the US now is an exclusive "elito-cracy" and that its democratic values are on the decline. It is exemplified by the intense debates raging among various state school systems over deleting the subject of climate change from science books and over abridging chapters related to racial persecution.