The Great Burden of Democracy
US voter turnout wasn’t just the highest in 120 years, it was the highest in history. This means an obligation to revitalize America’s democracy and a heavy burden for whoever gets the job.
An estimated 160 million people voted in the 2020 US Presidential Election — 67% of the eligible population and almost 20% higher than the 136 million who turned out in 2016.
That figure is without a doubt historic. It represents the highest turnout of eligible voters in 120 years (1900 saw 73.2%). However it’s more than that. Prior to the 1870s, African Americans and other people of colour weren’t granted voting rights and weren’t included in the ‘voting age population’. This was also true of women until the 1920s. Meanwhile Chinese immigrants and many Native Americans weren’t included until the 1940s and Jim Crow laws continued to disenfranchise Black Americans in some states for longer still.
What that means, is that this election is not only historic, but unprecedented. A greater percentage of voting age Americans participated in the 2020 election than ever before.
What caused them to do so, will no doubt be scrutinised for years to come. Going in, there was a sense that voter turnout would break records. Close to 100 million people submitted early or mail-in votes. More than twice the previous election. But that was understandable. There was and continues to be a pandemic raging.
Many thought that the increased turnout would almost exclusively favour democratic candidate Joe Biden — seeing the election as a referendum on the presidency of Donald Trump. However that turned out to be not quite true. As it stands, Trump looks set to gain at least 5 million more votes than in 2016.
What is left, is the recognition of a shared sentiment — America is in danger and it needs saving. The precise diagnosis of its ills no doubt vary dramatically from camp to camp and community to community, but there is some basis of solidarity there. Something is wrong.
It is this threat response that, in spite of Coronavirus, drove Americans to the polls on election day and in the weeks before. And it is this that needs to be addressed, by whoever sits in the oval office.
To this end, politics as usual will fail. Whether democrat, republican or media commentator, the political center as it is so often portrayed, has become wildly disconnected from reality. It is not the feckless meeting point of a false binary. What it is, should be fairly obvious. Meaningful change. A desire for health and safety, opportunity and a fair go. Something to be proud of, something to be hopeful for and trust in a system that works. Anyone that authentically offers those things would have no trouble crossing 270 electoral votes in a general election.
However it is that last part that is perhaps most foundational. Trust lies at the heart of a democracy and it has been eroded — all but washed away. This election represents a last desperate attempt from the electorate to recover something dear and precious to all of them.
America has a problem and the American people know it. The legal, political and financial framework has been twisted around into an abomination that threatens to consume itself, while the majority of media (social or otherwise) does little except arrange that problem into parallel universes — one for every group, ideology or individual they can identify. With that, the desire and even capacity to form consensus has largely evaporated.
Anyone who seeks to govern for “all Americans” needs to recognise addressing that as among their chief concerns. Donald Trump tapped into something with talk of “draining the swamp”. He was ‘unqualified’ for the task to say the least, but the left may have been so consumed with opposing him, they neglected to acknowledge that the message had merit. Bernie Sanders tapped into something similar with talk of corruption, campaign finance and decent pay. But he was routed like all the others. Point is, it’s not about Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump. It’s about fixing what is broken.
In their present form, neither party seems up to the task and reality will offer little recourse. Whoever wins, the next four years are set to be far uglier than the four that preceded it. Economic downturn, an ongoing pandemic, legal and political battles marred by what may be real physical conflict — the anger isn’t going away and it may lead to disaster. Record voter turnout means record political investment and Americans of all political persuasions are likely to be very disappointed in what they see.
So while a coherent Coronavirus response and a broadly progressive legislative agenda are obvious priorities, another project is mandated — one that not only requires, but actually benefits from bipartisanship. America needs a new social and political contract that rebuilds trust by rebuilding the infrastructure of US democracy. It won’t be completed in a single term. It may not even be completed in a generation. But there has never been a better time to start.
Democracy needs voters to work. Right now it has them. Yet if Americans continue to be let down by their media, their economy, their politicians and their political system, they may not give it another chance.
