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A careful reading of history demonstrates that democratic institutions cannot survive without a vibrant democratic culture. The legitimacy of elections is one of the foundations of such a culture. If people are led to believe an election was stolen, the newly elected president is gravely weakened. I surmise this is the Republican game plan. If so, it is a dangerous game that throws democracy\u2019s foundational institution into crisis.<\/p>\n
We should be extremely concerned about the damage the refusal to concede inflicts on democratic culture. Without electoral legitimacy, opponents are turned into enemies and the civility needed for debate informed by a common commitment to facts evaporates. I fear that Trump\u2019s base, feeling victimized and resentful, will likely become more involved in conspiracy theories like QAnon. Racist and xenophobic narratives of demographic replacement and subordination will become even more persuasive. Phantasms of Antifa invasions and black-on-white violence, and leftist takeover become more prominent. Not least, people who feel victimized by stolen elections are more likely to support or adopt undemocratic means for advancing their political agendas. Far-right groups prone to a punitive mindset, armed display, and violence have already demonstrated their strength.<\/p>\n
Democracy is a work in progress. Throughout American history, social movements opposed to injustice and for inclusion and equality have been democratic struggles. They have always encountered fierce resistance. Elections are an essential site for such struggles and therefore must be protected against any attempt to suppress the vote or undermine electoral legitimacy.<\/p>\n
On November 7th, when the Biden-Harris victory became certain, an enormous democratic energy was released. The nation\u2019s most authoritarian leader had been defeated by democratic means. The upsurge in democratic spirit is heartening and will contribute to a renewal of collective will to confront the Covid pandemic and its economic consequences. It will also galvanize support for racial justice and electoral reforms. <\/p>\n
One lesson I have learned from a lifetime of teaching and study, strongly reinforced by our recent experience, is that nothing about democracy is guaranteed. If Republican leadership continues to fail in its obligation to protect democracy, the judgment of history will fall on its shoulders.<\/p>\n\n
This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are moments in the history of any democracy when political forces converge to weaken democratic institutions and inflict deep wounds on the acceptance of democratic norms.\u00a0 We\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185\/revisions\/186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}