Less than a year after the attack on the Washington Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump seeking to prevent the certification of the vote in favor of Joe Biden and halt the country’s electoral process, the United States is hosting from Thursday a first Summit for Democracy.
At the call of the American president, 100 countries – including Canada – are taking part, in a virtual way, in order to debate the necessary renewal of democratic regimes around the world, “as they face challenges. unprecedented challenges, ”summarizes the State Department, which is orchestrating the project. Challenges that are now shaking the United States from within.
For the first time in its history, the country was described as a “retreating democracy” by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) last November.
And inevitably, the label now weakens the status of leader that the country seeks to give itself in the current process. “US efforts to lead the struggle for democracy on a global scale meet with obvious and understandable skepticism this year,” summarizes political scientist specializing in democratic institutions Michael Coppedge, professor at the University of Notre Dame, joined in Indiana . Democracy in the United States faces serious challenges: its representation is increasingly distorted, division is high, mistrust of elections and pundits is strong, all as Republicans demonstrate a frightening will to bend the rules of the game. “
“This is one of the greatest lessons of the 2010s: no democracy, anywhere in the world, is immune to a risk of erosion, or even an outright collapse”, summarizes in interview at To have to the political scientist Dan Slater, of the University of Michigan, who, last June, put his claw at the bottom of a statement supported by more than a hundred American academics calling for a reaction to the weakening of American democracy . “The fact that America is now living with the obvious threat of escalating authoritarianism within it should moreover prompt the Biden government to approach the Democracy Summit with a spirit of humility and, hopefully, cooperation. “
Lead by example
In a column published in the pages of USA Today Wednesday, the head of the American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, set the tone of the meeting by evoking “authoritarian governments [qui] actively seek to sow division and distrust in democracies ”and called on participants to engage“ against authoritarianism ”,“ corruption ”and for the protection of“ human rights ”.
“When democracies foster strong and inclusive economies, manage political disagreements without bloodshed, ensure public safety without denying civil liberties, and maintain stability with free elections and peaceful transitions of power, these measures are seen and envied. by others, he added. In short, what we do in our own countries shapes what other countries do in theirs. “
Democracy should be treated in the future as a goal, rather than a club
For political historian Alex Keyssar, professor at Harvard University, this summit provides an opportunity for the United States to “show the rest of the world that the country still wishes to be a leader among democratic nations,” he said. in an interview. “But to become a model again, it will depend on what will happen here in the next five years in terms of rejection of authoritarianism. Among others.
“This summit should above all serve to share ways of protecting democracy against those who threaten it, rather than asserting American leadership or drawing unrealistic and unnecessary divisions between a ‘free world’ and one that is not. Dan Slater adds. “Democracy should be treated in the future as a goal, rather than a club. “
An objective weakened by disinformation, itself fed by social networks, and whose influence does not bode well for the future, according to Michael Coppedge. “Our democracy is likely to become more defective over the next few years,” he assures us from a country where, despite his defeat, the populist Trump still has a very strong grip on the Republican Party. This should force us to rethink our way of being: instead of asking ourselves what we can do to support democracy abroad, we must now ask ourselves what we can do to meet the challenges in our own. House. “