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or all DonaldTrump’seffortstooverturnthismonth’selec-
tion, Americandemocracyneverlookedlikelytobuckleafter
polling day. Sureenough,onNovember23rd,evenasthepresi-
dent once again condemned“themostcorruptelectioninAmer-
ican history”, he agreedthatthefederalgovernmentshouldgive
Joe Biden the resourcesheneedstoprepareforoffice.
Mr Trump hasstilldoneharm,ashavetheRepublicanleaders
who indulged him(seeLexington).Giventhatfourineveryfive
Republican voterssaythevotewas“stolen”,trustinthefairness
of elections has beenshakenandMrBidenunjustlyundermined
from the very start.Henceforthinclosevotesroutinejobslike
counting and certifyingvoteswillriskbeingpartofthebattle-
ground. That is nota threattotherepublic’sexistence,butit does
mark a further partisandeteriorationinAmericandemocracy.
It is also part ofa globaldemocraticrecession.Thecollapseof
the Soviet Unionledtoa flourishinginthenumberandqualityof
liberal democracies,butthetrendhasnowgoneintoreverse.
Hungary and PolandareblockingtheEuropeanUnionbudget
because their governmentsrefusetobowtotheruleoflaw(see
Charlemagne). Ourbriefingdescribeshowintheworld’slargest
democracy the BharatiyaJanataParty(bjp) underNarendraModi
is capturing institutions,includingthecourts,thepoliceand
now, it is feared, theelectioncommission.TheEconomistIntel-
ligence Unit (eiu),oursisterorganisation,has
been compiling ademocracyindexsince2006.
Last year’s score wastheworstever.Covid-19has
accelerated the decline.
The threat isnot frommilitarycoupsbut
governments inpower.Giventime,unscrupu-
lous leaders can hollowoutdemocracycom-
pletely. Two decadesagoVenezuelaheldmean-
ingful elections;todayitisabouttoeliminate
the last kernel ofopposition(seeAmericassection).Butevenin
countries wheresucha calamityisunthinkable,theerosionof
norms and institutionsleadstoworsegovernment.Toreverse
this, you have to understandwhathasgonewrong.
Whether yousupportthemornot,MrTrumpandhisfellow
populists came topowerasa responsetothefailingsofdemo-
cratic governments.Inrichcountriesworking-classvoterscame
to believe that politiciansdidnotcareaboutthem,aftertheirliv-
ing standards stagnatedandtheybecameworriedaboutimmi-
gration. In centralandeasternEuropegovernmentsseekingto
join the eu paid moreheedtoBrusselsthantheirownvoters.In
developing countriescorruptionsentthemessagethattherul-
ing classes were chieflyinterestedintheirownbankaccounts.
Enterprising politiciansrespondedtothesefeelingsbyele-
vating identity farabovepolicysoastoshowvotersthattheir
grievances matter.Suchwastheupheavalthatsomeoldparties
were swept away—inFrancein 2017 theywonjusta quarterofthe
vote between them.Polandhadthrivedundera centristgovern-
ment, but Law andJusticetoldvotersthattheirCatholicvalues
were under attackfromBrussels.InBrazilJairBolsonaroen-
dorsed voters’ contemptforthepoliticalclass(seeBello).Sore-
lentless is Mr Trump’sfocusontheidentityofhisbasethathedid
not even proposea programmeforhissecondterm.Identitypolitics,boostedbysocialmediaandpartisantelevi-
sionandradio,hasre-engagedvoters.Participationistheonly
componentoftheeiu’s democracyindextohaveimprovedsince
2006.MrBidenandMrTrumpbothwonmorevotesthanany
presidentialcandidatesinhistory.Butinsolvingoneofdemo-
cracy’sproblems,identitypoliticshascreatedothers.
Thatisbecausea politicsthatreinforcesimmutableidenti-
tiesleadsawayfromthetoleranceandforbearancea democracy
needstosolvesocialconflicts.Inargumentsaboutwhogets
what,peoplecansplitthedifferenceandfeelcontent.Inargu-
mentsaboutwhotheyare—overreligion,raceandanti-elitism,
say—compromisecanseemlikebetrayal.Whenwaysoflifeare
atstaketheotherlotarenotjustmistaken,theyaredangerous.
Havingnotmatteredenough,electionsnowmattertoomuch.
Insomecountriesmajoritarianleadershaveexploitedthis
triballoyaltytonobbletheinstitutionssupposedtocheckthem.
InTurkeyRecepTayyipErdogangovernsasifdemocraticpower
isabsoluteandcondemnsthosewhoblockhimasenemiesof
therepublic.InMexicoAndrésManuelLópezObradorsidesteps
entirebranchesofgovernment,whichhavesupposedlybeen
capturedbytheelites,andappealsdirectlytohissupportersin
referendums.InIndia,whentheelectoralcommissionpursued
bjpcandidateslessscrupulouslythantheiropponents,oneof
thethreetopcommissionersobjected—onlyto
findhisfamilyinvestigatedfortaxevasion.
America’sinstitutionsareprotectedbythe
professionalism of its judges and officials.
Many of them feelbound by standards laid
downbythosewhocamebeforethem.WhenMr
Trumptriedtosubverttheelection,hefailedab-
jectlybecausecountlesspeopledidtheirduty.
Asa result,themainharmidentitypolitics
doestoAmericacomesthroughanimosityandgridlock.Politics
issupposedtoresolvesociety’sconflicts,butdemocracyisgen-
eratingtheminstead.Partlybecausetribesliveindifferentinfor-
mationuniverses,mattersoffactlikewearingmasksandcli-
matechangearetransformedintodisputesaboutpeople’swayof
life.TheresultisthatAmericanpoliticshasonceagainbecome
unresponsive.Itfirespeopleupsomuchthatitobstructsthe
compromisesneededforsocietytomoveforward.Voteforchange
Somewarnthatthediscontentthiscreateswillcausedemocra-
ciestodie—anoutcomethatitsfoes,championedbyVladimir
Putin,haveschemedtobringabout.Andyet,thereareplentyof
reasonstohope.Oneofdemocracy’sstrengthsisthatit promises
lotsofchancestostartagain.Solongaselectionstakeplace,
thereisalwaysthepossibilityofkickingtherascalsoutevenin
placeswheregovernmentsstackthevote.InthecitiesofHunga-
ryandPolandvotershavebeguntorejectrepressionandcrony-
ism.Ineuelectionslastyearpopulistsdidworsethanexpected.
Perhapsthependulumhasalreadybeguntoswing.Indiaistoo
vastandtoodiversefora singlepartytoruleonitsown.
Democracyisadaptable,too.InAmerica’selectionRepubli-
canspickedupHispanicandblackvotes;andinBritainlastyearThe resilience of democracy
Although it has been in recession, democracy contains the seeds of its own recoveryLeaders
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