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BY BOB TOPPER

America is a liberal democracy. Its greatest blessing is freedom, the right to live and act in accordance with one’s conscience. This freedom unleashes boundless energy and creativity, and, along with other western nations, liberal democracies have advanced at an astonishing pace, far surpassing autocratic and theocratic nations by every measure, especially quality of life.

Despite its advantages, democracy is not universally accepted. Monarchs, autocrats, theocrats, and oligarchs, who have a stake in preserving the societal structures that protected their wealth and power, continue to repress freedom. They deceive their citizenry using misinformation and disinformation to disparage the freedom of the western world. And they crush opposition with iron-fisted police and kangaroo courts. Dissidents like Alexie Navalny and Vladimir Kara-Murza are imprisoned and often murdered.

Their propaganda has infected western democracies. United States, Germany, France, and Italy have all shifted to the right. People are losing faith in the most successful form of government ever devised.

A study by the Economist concluded that, along with Greece, Israel, Poland, and Brazil, America is now one of the “flawed democracies.” Worse yet, the stage is set for its ruin. Trump, who has admired autocratic leaders and aspires to be one, has surrounded himself with oligarchs; he heads a political party that advocates the overthrow of democracy, and they are following the Project 2025 playbook. 

The loss of liberal democracy would be tragic for humanity and the planet. After four thousand years there is no reason to think that religions will ever bring peace and tranquility. The only real hope for humanity is humankind’s reasoning ability, and liberal democracies are the only form of government truly grounded in reason. 

Why is American Democracy failing?

Politics and Money

Politics in America has become a rich man’s game. In 2011 the average net worth of a senator was $14 million while that of a House member was $7 million. Today those numbers would be 50 percent greater. And 15.9 billion was spent in the 2024 election. It is naïve to think that politics is not profitable or that politicians are not beholden to benefactors. 

To win public office one usually needs the support of corporations and wealthy donors. And, when elected, officials spend half of their time raising money, time that should be spent working for their constituents. Money has corrupted the system. In the Sons of Wichita, Daniel Schulman reveals that one of Charles [Koch’s] advisers said, “Politicians are [paid] stage actors working off a script produced by the nation’s intellectual class.”

A major reason for this disgraceful circumstance is the 2010 Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision, which ruled that free speech under the First Amendment bars government from restricting campaign expenditures by corporations and non-profits. In effect the court said that corporations are people, which is as absurd as it sounds. In his dissenting opinion Justice Stevens argued that the ruling represented “a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self-government.”

Contributions of dark money are unlimited, and Congress cannot write laws to stop it. Non-profits are especially disturbing. In the last election, one shell corporation steered nearly $2.6 million to half a dozen Republican political committees though the company existed only on paper and had been incorporated for only three months.

Corporations and the wealthy have profited handsomely. Since 2010 the income of the top one percent has risen 250 percent, while the income of the bottom 20 percent has risen only 24 percent. The wealthy get what they pay for. Elon Musk has shown that by lodging at Mar-a-Lago and donating a quarter of a billion to a campaign, one can buy a controlling seat at the president’s table. No wonder Americans have lost faith in the system. 

To be fair, many politicians recognize the problem and want to do something about it. Thirty-two Senators have supported a constitutional amendment that would overturn Citizens United. But for now, the only safeguard preventing the complete corruption of our political system is our democracy. It must be appreciated that not one Republican appears on that list of 32, implying that the party consents to this compromise of democracy. 

Divisiveness – Politics and Religion

Senseless “culture wars” also threaten our democracy. To say culture is misleading; these are not culture wars; they are freedom wars, wars over America’s greatest blessing. 

Abortion is a key issue. Roe v. Wade ruled that until viability, the Constitution granted women the right to abort a pregnancy. In essence the court said that personhood begins with viability. But Christian fundamentalists insisted, without evidence, that personhood begins at an earlier time, though they were unable to show when. Nonetheless, they fought to deny women their freedom. After 50 years, conservative Christian Justice Alito, writing the Dobb’s decision, concocted a ruling that turned the issue to the states, where subjective popular opinion could override established legal precedent and a constitutional right. 

The LGBT controversies are also a matter of freedom. The freedom to choose how we live belongs to everyone, including members of the LGBT community. But the Christian bible recognizes only two genders and fundamentalists view any variation a violation of god’s work. They believe their god wants this freedom to be denied to gay, lesbian, and transgender people. Their position is clearly untenable. LGBT individuals make up seven percent of the world’s population and represent natural variations in human sexual identity. It is senseless to think that a perfect creator could be wrong seven percent of the time. 

Because the majority of Americans do not agree with their delusional views, Chistian fundamentalists see democracy as an obstacle they must overcome. And so, there are two influential groups who think it is in their interest to abandon democracy — the affluent and the Christian fundamentalists– a bizarre fusion of the followers of Jesus and the money changers he drove from the temple.

Their home is the theocratic Republican party, which has worked diligently to subvert our election process. Ironically, it was once the champion of individual freedom and democracy. 

Theocratic parties are incompatible with American democracy. The first obligation of elected officials is to support and defend the Constitution, which they affirm by solemn oath. And the first obligation of a political party is to work for the benefit of the common good. For religious extremists, serving God is more important than serving the common good. And their primary allegiance is to the bible, not the constitution. For extremists, these conflicts are unreconcilable.

In the past, character and decency mattered to our politicians. Rarely would someone dishonor their name or that of their party by violating an oath of office. Today Republicans like Hawley and Greene, who want to declare America a Christian nation, treat honor casually, as though they could simply opt-out after swearing in. Democracy requires honesty, and people who reconcile their personal beliefs with their oath of office. Joe Biden, for example, a devout Catholic, was against abortion but recognized that his first obligation as Senator and President was to the Constitution. Character, however, is not a strong suit for Republican theocrats.

The First Amendment forbids establishing a national church. There has never been a theocratic party of any consequence, so the separation of church and state was never an issue. But it has become one. Sixty-two percent of the Republican Party wants America to become a Christian nation, knowing it would violate the Constitution. And Republican theocrats prioritize Christian ideology. The divisiveness generated by this Republican mixing of religion and politics has torn our nation apart and may bring an end to democracy. That will be indeed tragic for everyone; a theocracy is just one form of autocracy. 

History proves that democracy is far superior to autocratic or theocratic government. Do we have the wherewithal to reject the religious extremism that has infected the Grand Old Party? Can we restore our democracy so that government reflects the will of the people and is dedicated to the common good? That is up to we the people.

(Bob Topper, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is a retired engineer.)