I read an article today effectively saying that Americans don't trust political campaigns. Okay, this shouldn't be a surprise, but the depth of the mistrust is noteworthy. According to the article, about 60% of us have little or no trust in information about elections, politics, foreign affairs or the environment. Less than 35% of us highly trust government certifications of election results. Only 25% of us trust campaign messages. To put this in perspective, constitutional amendments require a 2/3 (66%) majority. This means we've almost reached a point where we have a "constitutional amendment majority" that distrusts trust the system, making things ripe for exploitation.
To clarify, I'm not saying that democracy will fall during this election, but it certainly could happen during my lifetime. Trust is critical -- CRITICAL -- to democracy. Democracy can only succeed as long as people trust those we elect, and it's quite clear that we don't. By extension, we need to trust the press, and I don't think that's the case either. As I see it, the most likely outcome is a continued decline in participation in the election process until another cult of personality arrives and energizes us. By "us," I mean the American people at large. I am not referring specifically to one party or the other, because both parties are equally susceptible to a demagogue. The biggest factor is the exact wrong person coming to the political stage at the exact right time.
Donald Trump has done a uniquely successful job at eroding an already tenuous trust in our government. It will be incredibly difficult to rebuild this trust, and based on what I today, there is not a single politician currently serving who is concerned about rebuilding trust. They're all focused on leveraging this distrust to advance their own power and influence. This takes me back to the likely outcome I mentioned earlier... Political participation will continue to decline until we hit the point where a demagogue is able to take all the marbles. I can't help but wonder if we just witnessed a death knell for democracy.
2 comments:
Yeah- I have to say I'm part of that bunch who distrust what has been paid for on the media campaign adverts. I like to go back and do research from their histories and make my decision on whether or not to give them my vote. Most people are too lazy to do that bit of extra work and either vote on what they have seen on those paid political ads or just not vote at all. Stupidity either way. Make an informed decision.
Oh yeah, totally agreed. I tend to take things a bit further. I will work to get my hands on a sample ballot to make sure I'm aware of all candidates running and do a bit of research on all of them, explicitly making sure I include third party and independent candidates as part of my research. I then vote for the person who most closely aligns with my position, regardless of political party.
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