How worried should we be about the fate of U.S. democracy? The party that looks to gain control of Congress after this week’s election has nominated hundreds of candidates in state, local and national races who falsely claimed the 2020 election was fraudulent; uses extreme rhetoric that inspires violence; and has a de facto leader who doesn’t hesitate to undermine the rule of law. The threat to the republic is very real.
Political scientists say our country is confronting events abnormal in a democracy. While the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol was an especially prominent and terrifying example, there have been myriad disturbing gestures every day.
Consider, for example, statements such as those made last week by Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels, who asserted that if he wins, the party will “never lose another election.” That kind of rhetoric is especially alarming coming from a candidate who has pledged to change how elections are run. It is also not the way candidates in healthy democracies talk. Indeed, a definition of democracy is that there is occasional rotation of parties in office. Too often, it appears that Republicans consider any election won by a Democrat to be inherently fraudulent.
So what will determine whether democracy withstands these assaults, both small and large? If the rule of law is to survive, it will almost certainly take action from Republicans themselves.
The group with the most leverage are Republicans who are largely committed to the values in the Constitution and who have at times stood up to others in their party.