Is democracy really ‘on the ballot’ in the US midterm elections?

Ahead of the midterm elections in November, US president Joe Biden gave a controversial speech that accused MAGA Republicans (an acronym for “Make America Great Again”) of “destroying American democracy” and posing “a threat to this country” and to the “very foundations of our republic.” Days earlier, he described the philosophy of these pro-Trump Republicans as “almost semi-fascism”.

Such strong words represent a real break from a president who had placed national reconciliation at the core of his campaign, tirelessly repeating his desire to unify and not divide the people since his victory speech and inaugural address. However, he is hardly the first president to denounce other Americans as an existential threat to the nation. His predecessor, Donald Trump, referred to the press that criticized him as the “enemy of the people”.

Trump was quick to respond to Biden’s attacks by calling him an “enemy of the state”. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy agreed with Biden that “democracy is on the ballot in November”, but said it was “Joe Biden and the radical left in Washington [who] are dismantling it.”

Is this talk a mere electoral strategy to motivate voters to turn out or could both parties have a point?

Public opinion is concerned but divided on the issue of democracy

A majority of Americans (69%), Republicans and Democrats alike, do consider that democracy is “in danger of collapse,” according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll. For the first time in U.S. history, an incumbent president has still not conceded defeat, instead claiming a “landslide victory,” and inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol to block the certification of the results of the Electoral College vote.

The nation’s unifying concern about democracy, however, does not necessarily translate into votes as Americans tend to focus more on short-term, pressing issues. It also hides deep divisions: while a majority of respondents cite “people trying to overturn the election” as a major threat, among Republicans it is “people voting illegally” who are seen as a threat (CBS poll).

This belief continues even though all the studies on this issue, including the Commission on Election Integrity established by Trump himself, have concluded again and again that there is no evidence of voter fraud that could have changed the outcome of the 2020 elections. Despite this, poll after poll shows that a large majority of Republicans (70%) continue to believe that Joe Biden is not the legitimate winner of the 2020 election.

T-shirts on sale at Republican rallies often claim that Joe Biden is not the ‘real’ president of the United States.
Jeff Swensen/AFP

Questioning a president’s legitimacy is not entirely new: in 2016, 72% of Republican voters still doubted President Obama’s citizenship (in 2000, Democrats were skeptical of…

La suite est à lire sur: theconversation.com
Auteur: Jérôme Viala-Gaudefroy, Assistant lecturer, CY Cergy Paris Université