By Peter Andersen
US democracy was once carefully designed by the founding fathers of the United States to avoid the abuse of power. Theoretically, the separation of power would assure the executive, the judiciary and the legislative to operate independently and effectively. However, the whole system nowadays seems to be paralyzed by power struggles based on partisanship. The most recent investigation into former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort is just one of the cases
showing how the administration uses its position to achieve its narrow political ambitions. Obviously, as one of the three pillars in the US’ democratic system, the judicial department has fallen victim of bipartisan competitions. Meanwhile, eight fruitless hearings after the
January 6th Capitol riots in US congress also show the same fate that the legislative is facing. All these make it necessary to reconsider US democracy, especially the reality it confronts
Judicial Justice as the Sacrifice of Party Struggles
The judiciary is one of the three pillars for the separation of power in the United States. However, the current administration is using it as a weapon against its political enemies. What happens to former president Donald Trump recently shows how the Biden administration destroys the long-established political consensus that a sitting administration must be extremely cautious and thoughtful about prosecuting the former president. The Biden administration seems unaware of the risk of breaking the consensus and the pandora’s box of a retaliatory war based on partisanship seems to be opened.
On August 8th 2022, FBI agents conducted a criminal investigation into former president Donald Trump’s personal property. Although US laws have ruled that US presidents must transfer all their documents and emails to the National Archives once they leave office, it is worth noting that the Department of Justice and FBI did not request cooperation from Trump’s lawyers at the beginning of the investigation. Instead, they broke into Donald Trump’s property and carried out a criminal search warrant against a former president. This surprising raid is unusual and aggressive
It is unusual as it is the first time in US history that a sitting administration takes such bold action to prosecute its predecessor. Although this is not ruled out by any US law, it has become a political consensus that a sitting administration must be extremely cautious and thoughtful about prosecuting a former president. In this sense, Biden’s decision undoubtedly has broken the consensus and would ask for a tit-for-tat game based on partisanship in the future. The aftermath of the raid seems to surface right now. Majority of republicans and many US civilians are taking the surprising search as a witch hunt aiming at excluding Trump’s political entities. It seems that the search is tearing up the US’ political system and even the whole society
Furthermore, it is aggressive because it targets an US citizen with a flawed legal framework. Laws cited by the Department of Justice for the search are mainly from _Espionage Act of 1917_ and _U.S. Code_. However, those sections only suggest presidents submitting relevant documents and do not contain any execution clauses. In the meantime, Donald Trump, as an US citizen, undoubtedly, should enjoy the right against unreasonable searches and seizures ruled in _Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution. _According to the fourth amendment, the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue. Although the law also rules some probable causes supported by oath or affirmation and particular description about the places, persons, or things to be searched or seized, it is still problematic to search an US civilian’s safe with imperfect laws. But this is just what happens in a “democratic” country
The Legislative at a deadlock
The above case is just the tip of the iceberg when understanding the democratic reality in the US. The congress or the legislative is also the victim of partisanship. Though this is not something new, it is undoubtedly a serious problem that weighs a lot on every American
According to the latest FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos poll conducted between May 26th 2022 and June 6th 2022, polarization and extremism rank number three across a list of 20 issues. The first two issues are increasing costs and gun violence. Though most Americans hope the government could take measures to reduce the level of polarization, it is still hard to see a way out of the current partisan gridlock
In congress, bipartisan competition is putting its efficiency at the edges. The January 6th Capitol riot shows how the separation of power becomes weak and even loses its function sometimes in the polarized context. More than one year after the riots, there have been eight hearings conducted to find out the culprit. However, none of them has worked or even changed people’s initial views on this issue. Recent polls conducted by many entities, such as CNN, Washington Post and Maryland University etc. are generally showing the same result, that public understanding is still following the line of party identity. Some of them even have their opinions strengthened. This would disappoint many who are still waiting for the truth after the authorities have put in so many public resources
US democracy under Siege
A significant reason for the present political dilemma is that US political leaders are using their position as weapons to fight against their domestic enemies. In other words, they are putting their personal ambitions before people’s interests. Since Biden came into office, we have seen endless investigations into Donald Trump, who is not only Biden’s predecessor but possibly a powerful competitor for the 2024 presidential election. While those investigations aimed at Trump do not seem to bear fruit and could backfire, republicans have greatly lost faith in the justice department. The gap between republicans and democrats has also grown more sharply in congress. It is foreseeable that once the republicans control both chambers of the house in this midterm election, the Biden administration will be overwhelmed with more political dilemmas. All these make it necessary that we reconsider US democracy rather than taking it for granted. Is US democracy still effective as it used to be or is it collapsing? This is not a difficult question since what happens in the country has already told us a lot about the answer. It is obvious that the democratic system itself is still valuable, but it has deviated from the original intentions of US fathers. The separation of power has entwined with the two-party system for a long time, but right now the latter seems eager to gobble down the former. Once the process was finished, it would be proper to regard two-party struggle as the essence of US democracy instead of the separation of power or the checks and balance
(Dansk) Det amerikanske demokratis sammenbrud?
Amerikansk demokrati blev engang omhyggeligt designet af grundlæggerne af USA for at undgå magtmisbrug. Teoretisk set sik magtadskillelsen, at den udøvende , den dømmende og den lovgivende magt fungerer uafhængigt og effektivt. Imidlert ser hele systemet i dag ud til at være lammet af magtkampe baseret om partiskhed. Den seneste undersøgelse af forhenværende præsident Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort er blot et af flere tilfælde, som viser, hvordan forvaltningen bruger sin position til at opnå sin snævre politiske ambitioner. Det er klart, at som en af de tre søjler i USA’ demokratiske system, er retsvæsenet blevet et offer for konkurrencen inden for to-partisystemet. I mellemtiden, vier otte frugtesløse høringer af 6. januar Capitol-optøjer i den amerikanske kongres også, at den samme skæbne som den lovgivende står over for. Alt dette gør det nødvendigt at genoverveje USAs demokrati, især den virkelighed, som demokratiet står over for.
Retfærdighed som offer for partikampe
Retsvæsenet er en af de tre søjler for magtadskillelse i USA. Den nuværende administration bruger dog systemet som et våben mod sine politiske fjender. Hvad der for nyligt er gjrot imod den tidligere præsident Donald Trump viser , hvordan Biden administration ødelægger den længe etablerede politiske konsensus om, at en siddende administration skal være yderst forsigtig og betænksom om at retsforfølge den tidligere præsident. Biden-administrationen virker uvidende om risikoen for at bryde konsensus og pandoras boksen med en gengældelseskrig baseret på partiskhed ser ud til at blive åbnet. Den 8. august 2022 gennemførte FBI-agenter en kriminel efterforskning af tidligere præsident Donald Trumps personlige ejendom. Selvom amerikanske love har afgjort, at amerikanske præsidenter skal overføre alle deres dokumenter og e-mails til Rigsarkivet, når de forlader kontoret, er det værd at bemærke, at Justitsministeriet og FBI ikke anmodede om samarbejde fra Trumps advokater i begyndelsen af efterforskningen. I stedet, brød de ind i Donald Trumps ejendom og gennemførte en kriminel ransagning af en tidligere præsident. Denne overraskende ransagelse er usædvanlig og aggressiv
Det er usædvanligt, da det er første gang i amerikansk historie, at en siddende administration tager så modige foranstaltninger for at retsforfølge sit forgænger. Selvom dette ikke er udelukket af amerikansk lovgivning, er der politisk konsensus om, at en siddende administration skal være yderst forsigtig og betænksom med at retsforfølge en tidligere president. I denne forstand har Bidens beslutning utvivlsomt brudt konsensus og vil medføre et tit-for-tat-spil baseret på partiskhed i fremtiden. Eftervirkningerne af razziaen ser ud til at dukke op lige nu. Flertallet af republikanere og mange amerikanske civile betragter den overraskende undersøgelse som en heksejagt med det formål at udelukke Trumps politiske enheder. Det ser ud til, at eftersøgningen river USA politiske system i stykker og endda hele samfundet.
Desuden er den aggressiv, fordi den er rettet mod en amerikansk statsborger ved brug af mangelfulde juridiske rammer. Lovgivning citeret af Justitsministeriet for efterforskningen er hovedsageligt fra _Spionage Act of 1917_ og _U.S. Kode_.Disse sektioner foreslår dog kun, at præsidenter indsender relevante dokumenter og sektionerne indeholder ingen udførelsesklausuler. I mellemtiden bør Donald Trump som amerikansk statsborger utvivlsomt nyde retten til ikke at blive udsat for urimelige ransagninger og beslaglæggelser fastsat i _Fjerde ændring af den USA’s forfatning. _Ifølge det fjerde ændringsforslag er folkets rettigheder for at være sikre i deres personer, huse, papirer og virkninger, mod urimelige ransagninger og beslaglæggelser, skal ikke overtrædes, og der udstedes ingen kendelser. Selvom loven også styrer nogle sandsynlige årsager understøttet af ed eller bekræftelse og særligenbeskrivelse af de steder, personer eller ting, der skal søges eller beslaglagt, er det stadig problematisk at ransage en amerikansk civil persons pengeskab med ufuldkomne love. Men det er bare, hvad der sker i et “demokratisk”Land
Den lovgivende i et dødvande
Ovenstående tilfælde er kun toppen af isbjerget, når man forstår demokratiske virkelighed i USA. Kongressen, eller lovgivende, er også offer for partiskhed. Selvom dette ikke er noget nyt, er det uden tvivl et alvorligt problem, der vejer tungt for enhver amerikaner. Ifølge den seneste FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos-måling foretaget mellem den 26. maj 2022 og den 6. juni 2022 rangerer polarisering og ekstremisme som nummer tre på listen af 20 numre. De første to problemer er stigende omkostninger og vold. Selvom de fleste amerikanere håber, at regeringen kunne tage foranstaltninger til at reducere niveauet af polarisering, er det stadig svært at se en vej ud af den nuværende partiseparation
I kongressen sætter topartisk konkurrence sin effektivitet på kanter. Capitol-oprøret den 6. januar viser, hvordan magtadskillelsen bliver svag og mister endda sin funktion nogle gange i polariseret kontekst. Mere end et år efter urolighederne er der blevet gennemført otte høringer for at finde frem til gerningsmanden. Ingen af høringerne har imidlertid fungereret eller ændret folks oprindelige syn på dette problem. Seneste meningsmålinger udført af mange enheder, såsom CNN, Washington Post og Maryland University osv. viser generelt det samme resultat, at den offentlige forståelse stadig følger partiets linje identitet. Nogle af dem får endda deres meninger styrket. Dette ville skuffe mange, der stadig venter på sandheden efter myndigheder har sat så mange offentlige ressourcer ind
Amerikansk demokrati under belejring
En væsentlig årsag til det nuværende politiske dilemma er, at USA’s politiske ledere bruger deres position som våben til at kæmpe imod deres hjemlige fjender. Med andre ord, de sætter deres personlige ambitioner før folkets interesser. Siden Biden blev valgt, har vi set endeløse undersøgelser af Trump, som ikke kun er Bidens forgænger, men muligvis en magtfuld konkurrent til præsidentvalget i 2024. Mens de undersøgelser rettet mod Trump ikke ser ud til at bære frugt og muligvis giver bagslag, har republikanerne i høj grad mistet tilliden til justitsministeriet. Kløften mellem republikanere og demokrater er også vokset i kongressen. Det er forudsigeligt, at når republikanerne kontrollere begge kamre i huset i dette midtvejsvalg, vil Biden administrationen blive overvældet af flere politiske dilemmaer
Alt dette gør det nødvendigt, at vi genovervejer det amerikanske demokrati, frem for at tage det for givet. Er det amerikanske demokrati stadig effektivt som det plejede at være eller er det ved at kollapse? Dette er ikke et svært spørgsmål da det, der sker i landet, allerede har fortalt os meget om svaret. Det er åbenlyst, at selve det demokratiske system stadig er værdifuldt, men det har afveget fra USA’s fædres oprindelige intentioner. Magtadskillelsen har flettet sig sammen med topartisystemet i lang tid, men lige nu synes det sidstnævnte at være ivrig efter at opsluge førstnævnte. Når processen var afsluttet, ville det være korrekt at betragte to-parti kampen som essensen af USA’s demokrati, i stedet for magtadskillelse eller checks og balance.
