∞ Monkeys: The orgs that do the "Democracy Rankings" things downgraded the US because of legislative polarization causing gridlock, & lack of public trust in elections, institutions & media. Many other countries have scored lower for the same reason. The US is objectively more democratic than it was in 1950.

I feel the Skepticism you hear from some when they seem utterly baffled that people would actually believe a second Trump term would bring authoritarian and anti democratic backsliding is rooted in, among other things, 1) not realizing that if something like that occurs, it’s not gonna have…

…the dramatic sweep or bang of a March on Rome, it’s gonna feel a lot more “normal” than that and therefore easier to dismiss by many elite pundits 2) ask an older Black voter if it’s hard to believe that America may no longer be a democracy at some point in its modern history.

For most of its history, America hasn’t been a democracy, by any meaningful definition of the term! This isn’t some It Can’t Happen Here shit, in a way, it’s already happened. It just may not have directly affected you.

This right here. Ask marginalized communities that have historically faced oppression under the law if they feel that America is a democracy.

Ask the people of the American territories if they feel that way. Ask the people of Puerto Rico, Guam, or American Samoa if they think that the United States is a democracy.

That’s why America is often described as a flawed democracy as opposed to a full democracy. It’s amazing that most Americans don’t realize this.

The orgs that do the "Democracy Rankings" things downgraded the US because of legislative polarization causing gridlock, & lack of public trust in elections, institutions & media. Many other countries have scored lower for the same reason. The US is objectively more democratic than it was in 1950.

Sure I agree. And it’s objectively less democratic than the most of the countries listed higher on the index as full democracies. It’s not even close to being as democratic as those places.

In terms of electoral mechanics & participation, the US is on par with the countries listed as full democracies. The big hits were "functioning of government" because of debt ceiling standoffs in Congress & "political culture" for increased vitriol.

Those are indeed the big hits but it’s also meaningful behind most the ones ahead on pluralism and civil rights. These things are all pretty correlated.

The US lost points on civil rights, mainly because of loss of reproductive rights. Back to your original point- other nations are ranked as "full democracies" despite having territories where residents have no representation in a national legislature. We dropped in 2016 because of gridlock.

The United States has the same problem of territories that don't have representation nor the right to vote.

People in Greenland & the Faroes have no representation in the Danish Parliament, but Denmark ranks #6. You can cite this as a reason why you believe the US is a flawed democracy, but the people at the EIU didn't drop the US for that reason.

Yes but even before that America was no where near the top. Not even close. It was barely across the line.

Let's see. #17 on the first one in 2006. #18 in 2010. #21 in 2012. The EIU's biggest concern is people saying elections are rigged or votes don't matter. We went from 8.75 to 6.25 on "culture".

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