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American Democracy Is Healthier than It Appears
A Healthy Democracy
The United States has experienced a democratic breakdown only once in its history: the Civil War.[112] Approximately 750,000 Americans died in the Civil War in fighting that raged from Pennsylvania to Texas.[113] Nevertheless, despite the chaos, the northern and border states administered free and fair federal and state elections throughout the war. The parties hotly contested the elections and many Democrats engaged in rhetoric that undermined the war effort.[114] Ohio Congressman Clement Vallandigham even called on foreign powers to intervene in the war on the side of the Confederacy.[115] Yet, American democracy carried on. Lincoln won reelection in 1864 in one of the most momentous elections in history.[116] The key point is American democracy—in all its messiness—worked in the 1860s under the most extreme pressures imaginable.[117] As Lincoln himself put it, the 1864 election “demonstrated that a people’s government can sustain a national election, in the midst of a great civil war.”[118]
The same was true of the 1918 elections, conducted during the deadliest pandemic in modern history.[119] In 1918 an H1N1 virus (described inaccurately at the time as “Spanish Influenza”) killed 675,000 Americans and cost the lives of over 50 million people worldwide.[120] Amid the pandemic crisis, the country held the 1918 midterm elections. Although the midterms saw a decline in voter turnout and some states struggled with administrative problems, a study by Jason Marisam concluded that “surprisingly, in most places the election was held with relatively few complications.”[121] Indeed, to a remarkable degree, the 1918 election results looked like a normal midterm.[122] Accordingly, Marisam notes, “There was no national debate about the legitimacy of the election results.”[123] The election produced a peaceful transfer of power from the incumbent Democrats—who lost control of both houses of Congress—to the Republicans.[124]
When viewed in historical context, therefore, America’s democratic foundations look much stronger and more robust than the overheated partisan rhetoric of the 2020 campaign would otherwise suggest. Most important of all, American democracy is far more inclusive today than it was for much of the nation’s history. Women did not possess full suffrage rights in all states until the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Black people in the South only truly realized the Fifteenth Amendment right to vote with the adoption of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. And prior to the 1970s, Presidents could send eighteen-, nineteen-, and twenty-year-old Americans to fight and die on battlefields around the globe even though those same young adults could not vote in most elections.[125] By virtually every measure, therefore, the quality of American democracy is vastly superior to what it was 50 or 100 or 200 years ago.
Accordingly, the history of American democracy should be a central part of the civics education that Professor Hasen proposes.[126] As he puts it so well in Election Meltdown:
In the end, this form of civics education aims to convince the American public that what unites us and helps us thrive is our multi-faceted plural democracy, in which losers respect fair election outcomes and vow to fight another day, and that our democracy’s value is much greater than the issues dividing us.[127]
To be sure, the partisan rancor of this acrimonious era is deeply troubling and profoundly disheartening. But we should not overlook the abiding strength of American democracy. Although the dangers we face as a nation in the 2020s are all too real, there is nevertheless reason for cautious optimism that American democracy will continue to display resilience and a robust capacity for growth and improvement."
https://www.bu.edu/bulawreview/2020/10/05/american-democracy-is-healthier-than-it-appears/
I agree with this but unsure what it is meant in terms of "in which losers respect fair election outcomes and vow to fight another day". This is considering it was losers and treasonous suckers repuke voters who did America dirty that facilitated and enabled repukes to aid and abet foreign enemies to lawlessly hacked the 2016 election in the devil's favor, and that resulted in a curse on humanity as a whole to deal with.
A Healthy Democracy
The United States has experienced a democratic breakdown only once in its history: the Civil War.[112] Approximately 750,000 Americans died in the Civil War in fighting that raged from Pennsylvania to Texas.[113] Nevertheless, despite the chaos, the northern and border states administered free and fair federal and state elections throughout the war. The parties hotly contested the elections and many Democrats engaged in rhetoric that undermined the war effort.[114] Ohio Congressman Clement Vallandigham even called on foreign powers to intervene in the war on the side of the Confederacy.[115] Yet, American democracy carried on. Lincoln won reelection in 1864 in one of the most momentous elections in history.[116] The key point is American democracy—in all its messiness—worked in the 1860s under the most extreme pressures imaginable.[117] As Lincoln himself put it, the 1864 election “demonstrated that a people’s government can sustain a national election, in the midst of a great civil war.”[118]
The same was true of the 1918 elections, conducted during the deadliest pandemic in modern history.[119] In 1918 an H1N1 virus (described inaccurately at the time as “Spanish Influenza”) killed 675,000 Americans and cost the lives of over 50 million people worldwide.[120] Amid the pandemic crisis, the country held the 1918 midterm elections. Although the midterms saw a decline in voter turnout and some states struggled with administrative problems, a study by Jason Marisam concluded that “surprisingly, in most places the election was held with relatively few complications.”[121] Indeed, to a remarkable degree, the 1918 election results looked like a normal midterm.[122] Accordingly, Marisam notes, “There was no national debate about the legitimacy of the election results.”[123] The election produced a peaceful transfer of power from the incumbent Democrats—who lost control of both houses of Congress—to the Republicans.[124]
When viewed in historical context, therefore, America’s democratic foundations look much stronger and more robust than the overheated partisan rhetoric of the 2020 campaign would otherwise suggest. Most important of all, American democracy is far more inclusive today than it was for much of the nation’s history. Women did not possess full suffrage rights in all states until the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Black people in the South only truly realized the Fifteenth Amendment right to vote with the adoption of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. And prior to the 1970s, Presidents could send eighteen-, nineteen-, and twenty-year-old Americans to fight and die on battlefields around the globe even though those same young adults could not vote in most elections.[125] By virtually every measure, therefore, the quality of American democracy is vastly superior to what it was 50 or 100 or 200 years ago.
Accordingly, the history of American democracy should be a central part of the civics education that Professor Hasen proposes.[126] As he puts it so well in Election Meltdown:
In the end, this form of civics education aims to convince the American public that what unites us and helps us thrive is our multi-faceted plural democracy, in which losers respect fair election outcomes and vow to fight another day, and that our democracy’s value is much greater than the issues dividing us.[127]
To be sure, the partisan rancor of this acrimonious era is deeply troubling and profoundly disheartening. But we should not overlook the abiding strength of American democracy. Although the dangers we face as a nation in the 2020s are all too real, there is nevertheless reason for cautious optimism that American democracy will continue to display resilience and a robust capacity for growth and improvement."
https://www.bu.edu/bulawreview/2020/10/05/american-democracy-is-healthier-than-it-appears/
I agree with this but unsure what it is meant in terms of "in which losers respect fair election outcomes and vow to fight another day". This is considering it was losers and treasonous suckers repuke voters who did America dirty that facilitated and enabled repukes to aid and abet foreign enemies to lawlessly hacked the 2016 election in the devil's favor, and that resulted in a curse on humanity as a whole to deal with.
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