The Importance of American Democracy and Elections

By J. McManus

Voting is one of the most powerful forms of expression one could acquire. It began as a revolutionary idea in the 1700’s, during the Enlightenment era, when democracy started gaining popularity. Today, over 160 countries and territories use this very concept of choosing people to represent them through a majority vote. But do the polls truly reflect the beliefs and values of the given society? 
 
One of the most important elections held this year is the United States' presidential election. In this election, two main candidates and parties were presented, each with different strategies and opinions to please the public. Donald Trump (Republican) and Kamala Harris (Democrat) competed head-to-head for the votes of the American community. The polling running up to election day indicated an extremely tight race based on relatively few votes in the swing states. To the surprise of many and contrary to all polling indications, Trump had an unexpected landslide victory. This shows that the polling process is very fragile, despite being a key source of information for voters, and this is not the first time the polls underestimated the support for Trump. This brings us to question how accurate the polls are really in defining the future president of the U.S.  
 
Many believed that Trump’s political career was over after losing the last election, vocally not accepting the result, and not permitting a smooth transition of government, as well as being subject to several criminal charges. The democratic system in the U.S. is also rather hypocritical and can be seen as a shift to autocracy considering the amount of power the president holds in their hands, such as making treaties, representing their nation, sending troops to protect the nation during an attack, granting pardons, acting as commander-in-chief during war, and more. Trump's specific case is interesting because the U.S. is considered the oldest and perhaps the strongest democracy in the world, however the majority of voting Americans have decided to put a criminal (fraud) back in office after unreliable promises, such as his election promise to build a wall between the United States and Mexico while having the Mexicans pay for it. This authority is like that of a Monarchy and for that reason represents a decline in practical democracy today. The authority Trump has achieved by having majority in congress and in the senate while appointing his loyal followers to keep political positions provides him with a huge amount of power. 
 
The presidential campaign strategies were also starkly different in this year’s U.S. elections. The fact is that Trump was the clear Republican candidate from the very beginning whereas Harris only stood in for Biden after a major public blunder during a significant debate. Even before this year’s election, Trump had already gained much fame for his TV roles and attention-calling antics. Although the polls suggested Harris would win, ultimately, fame swayed the votes in Trump’s favour. Since the polls do not require mandatory participation, many people may have chosen to keep their vote confidential or even lie about their candidate in fear of reprisal judgement. 
 
If the oldest democracy in the world can decide to move towards autocracy with similar movements being seen in other countries, what is it that the people actually want from their government? Do they want a democratic government to provide service, or do they want to follow orders as part of an autocracy? This will continue to be decided as people around the world continue to exercise their right to vote and the moment of truth will emerge in the election results.