The electoral scene in the US is getting more complex day by day, especially in light of the sharp polarisation between Republicans and Democrats, which has reached its climax in the Biden-Trump struggle that is still ongoing and attracts the attention of the whole world.
All this confirms that the upcoming elections will be a decisive battle for the American people in which the future of democracy in the US will be determined, and it may be capable of changing the electoral system and political life as a whole.
This is especially so since much recent political research confirms that there has been no significant change in the ideological attitudes or political preferences of the majority of American citizens over the last four decades and that the growing phenomenon of polarisation is limited to political elites and partisan activists only.
This is confirmed by numerous opinion polls. In the latest opinion poll conducted by the University of Quinnipiac, it was found that more than 60% of US citizens oppose the candidacy of both current President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump in the next presidential election in 2024, as they believe that the US is not on the right track.
A Gallup poll conducted early last year also showed that 62% of voters think the two major parties are doing so poorly that an alternative party is needed.
More importantly, this farcical struggle between the two parties has already led to real change. A few weeks ago, a group of former Democrats and Republicans launched a third party called Forward to participate in the upcoming presidential race.
“Political extremism is ripping our nation apart, and the two major parties have failed to remedy the crisis… Polarisation is fuelling a spike in political intimidation. In the past two years, we’ve seen death threats and assassination plots against members of Congress, governors, Supreme Court justices, and even the vice president of the United States. If nothing is done, the United States will not reach its 300th birthday this century in recognisable form. That’s why we are coming together — Democrats, Republicans, and independents — to build a new, unifying political party for the majority of Americans, who want to move past divisiveness and reject extremism,” said Party Founders David Jolly, Todd Whitman, and Andrew Young in an opinion piece in the Washington Post on 27 July.
In fact, there are many challenges facing this party, the most important of which are the influence and popularity of the main parties and the voting system of the US, which is limited to only two candidates. However, some political analysts say that the influence of this third party should not be judged solely by its election victory.
They argue that the presence of a third party may put pressure on the dominant parties and force them to change their polarising policies, and they back this up with many examples from the history of political parties in the US.
In any case, certainly, the presence of a third party is a milestone in American political life, although it is not the first of its kind in American political history, as it was preceded by many attempts that did not achieve much success.
But what is actually more important than the formation of new rival parties is to read history and benefit from it to get out of the current impasse. The real reason for the collapse of this well-established democracy may be due to the neglect of history. Indeed, the history of the founding fathers is still inspiring and still presents the answer to many political problems that seem unresolved today. They already knew what loopholes could undermine the system they established more than two centuries ago and how to avoid them.
In his farewell address in 1796, the first American president, George Washington — one of the founding fathers — gave several pieces of advice warning Americans of the dangers of political parties that they must avoid, stressing that they must remain true to their inherent values if their democracy is to remain stable.
Adherence to American values and the role of the American people in preserving these authentic values — in addition to not being drawn to partisan incitements — is the right solution emphasised by Washington to preserve American democracy from the disgusting partisan conflicts that lead to the supremacy of the authoritarian regime.
In his speech, Washington warned the American people that political factions may seek to obstruct the implementation of laws established by the government or prevent branches of government from exercising the powers stipulated in the constitution. He also stressed that such factions may claim that they are trying to respond to popular demands or solve pressing problems, but their real intentions are to wrest power from the people and put it in the hands of unjust men.
In Washington’s view, political parties ultimately “tend gradually to authoritarianism and favour the absolute power of the individual because they tend to distract the government from its duties, to create baseless jealousy among groups and regions, to foment false alarms among the people, to promote riots and insurrections, and perhaps also give foreign states and interests access to the government where they can impose their will on the country.
After more than two centuries, it became clear that what Washington wrote was an accurate prediction of what is happening today, and that American values were and still are the only protectors in the struggle of political parties. This is because political parties in the US today are in a state of unprecedented conflict and division.
Today, the American values that urge commitment to the public interest at the expense of private interests and the existence of coherent and impartial institutions that play their roles as mediators between the parties have completely disappeared. This is in addition to the disappearance of institutions’ adaptation to changes, which is one of the most important factors for the sustainability of these institutions and their continued effectiveness. Finally, the principle of nobility in victory and patience in loss, which means moderation in dealing with the losing opponent and not depriving them of their rights also disappeared.
These are the American values that made the US a strong country at home and abroad, made it a civilisation to be reckoned with, and enabled it to continue and influence the world. But after these values were ignored amid partisan conflicts, the country’s institutions began to erode. This was also reflected in the prevailing culture, where accepting the other completely disappeared and was replaced by a culture of rivalry and the imposition of opinion by force.
The 2024 elections will not be a competition between two opponents to enter the White House, but it will be a real test for the American people and their awareness of the danger of the present moment and the importance of upholding the values that the founding fathers fought to instil in this society.
* Marwa Al-Shinawy is an Assistant Professor at the International American University for Specialised Studies (IAUS)
