Democracy vs. dictatorship in the U.S.
If Trump wins, it could bring the U.S. close to a dictatorship for the first time, and imperil world peace
By Luis Fierro Carrión
Twitter: @luis_fierro_eco
There has never been a military dictatorship in the United States (in contrast with many countries in Europe or Latin America). While George Washington was first named "President General" by the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he won the Presidency in the first organized electoral process in 1789. Even during the Civil War (1861-1865) between the Union states and the Southern Confederate states, Abraham Lincoln ran for office in 1864 and won overwhelmingly.
It's true that American democracy has always been restricted. Initially, only white men with property (6% of the population) could vote. When independence was declared, all 13 colonies had black slaves, who could not vote. Gradually, the right to vote expanded to other races and ethnic groups, to women, and eventually to indigenous people (Native Americans).
However, even today, citizens of Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico are not represented in Congress, and those of Puerto Rico (and other overseas territories, such as American Samoa, Guam, Mariana Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands) cannot vote for President.
The right to vote has been expanding, and the peaceful alternation of power has been maintained since the beginning of the Republic. It is worth mentioning that voting is not compulsory, and less than 60% of eligible adults typically vote in presidential elections (in 2020 it reached 62%, the highest level since 1960).
The U.S. electoral system is unique in that the candidate with the highest number of votes (popular vote) does not win, but rather the "electors" are counted by states, in the so-called Electoral College. This is a vestige of the time of slavery, since the inhabitants of a state were counted to determine the number of electors, without considering that some of these inhabitants (slaves, women, Indians) could not vote. To date, the Electoral College gives overrepresentation to small, mostly rural states, most of which tend to vote Republican. California, for example, has 69 times the population of Wyoming, but only 18 times the number of electors.
The 2020 election was anomalous, given that the losing candidate, Donald Trump, never conceded defeat, and instead made efforts to prevent the peaceful transfer of power (something that had never happened). Among other things, he filed multiple lawsuits for alleged fraud (all of which were dismissed by the courts); tried to manipulate secretaries of state and other election officials into not recognizing Joe Biden's win in certain states; and fake "elector" lists were presented in seven swing states (Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, Nevada and New Mexico), in which Trump had lost. On January 6, 2021, there was an assault on Congress by Trump supporters, who were trying to prevent the official proclamation of the results, an attempted coup d'état.
Now, Trump has claimed that he wants to be a dictator; that he could disregard the Constitution; that he could create concentration camps to detain undocumented immigrants; and that he would seek to expel millions of undocumented immigrants.
Project 2025, put together by the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups, suggests invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807 to deploy the military to crack down on opponents and order the Justice Department to go after Trump's opponents. It also proposes undoing the protections of civil service laws, and replacing public officials selected on merit, with officials personally loyal to Trump (and not to the Constitution). Trump has said he will persecute and jail his critics in the government and the media, including those top officials in his first administration who have dared to criticize him.
Trump has also announced that he will allow Russia to "do whatever the hell they want" with those NATO member countries that have not increased their defense spending to levels he deems appropriate.
A Trump election victory would bring the United States closer to a dictatorial regime; and it would generate international imbalances that could lead to a new world war.
D.C. Police Officer Daniel Hodges being crushed by the Trump insurrectionists
Source: D.C. Police Dept.