Founded by Stefano Vaccara

Subscribe for only $6/Year
  • Login
  • Register

Editor in Chief: Giampaolo Pioli

VNY La Voce di New York

The First Italian English Digital Daily in the US

English Editor: Grace Russo Bullaro

  • English Edition
  • Letters
  • New York
  • U.N.
  • News
  • People
  • Entertainment
  • Arts
  • Lifestyles
  • Food & Wine
  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Italian Edition
No Result
View All Result
VNY
  • English Edition
  • Letters
  • New York
  • U.N.
  • News
  • People
  • Entertainment
  • Arts
  • Lifestyles
  • Food & Wine
  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Italian Edition
No Result
View All Result
VNY La Voce di New York
No Result
View All Result
in
News
October 31, 2022
in
News
October 31, 2022
0

Is American Democracy Sick? Federalism and Extreme Radicalization

The current political climate is “the perfect storm for illiberalism and authoritarianism to take root”

Renzo CianfanellibyRenzo Cianfanelli
Quel remoto ma attualissimo legame tra Napoli e la costituzione americana

Delegates at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 signing the Constitution. (Painting by Howard Chandler Christy).

Time: 3 mins read

What’s wrong with American democracy? Two books that recently appeared, Power Politics: Trump and the Assault on American Democracy by Darrell M. West, and Divided We Fall by David A. French, are trying to cut through the fog of mutual obfuscation by the opposing factions of democrats and republicans in the aftermath of the Midterm vote.

Most Americans, as Darrell West, director of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, notes in in his latest book, “are firmly convinced that their democracy is at risk. But they disagree vehemently on why.” In America, the rise of extremism and a decline of confidence in trusted institutions have created a toxic environment.

The Senate is gridlocked. The very essence of governance, that is, the search of a negotiated non-partisan solution to a real problem, often becomes an impossibility. At federal and state levels, a constructive debate is frequently obstructed by the urge to score political points. The prevailing climate, says West, can only be described as “the perfect storm for illiberalism and authoritarianism to take root.”

Neither the Brookings Institution created in 1916, that was instrumental in drafting the blueprint of the United Nations and helped shape the Marshall Plan, nor professor West, who is an independent academic and serves in the historical Washington think tank as vice president, owe any allegiance to political parties.

Blaming Trump for the sad state of American democracy, says the author of “Power Politics,” is missing the point. Trump, contrary to what the man with his outsize ego would have everyone believe, is not an ideologue or a  talented tycoon. He simply exploited the existing cracks built into the foundations of elections, political institutions, and the media ecosystem. But it seems almost a certainty that Trumpism will outlast Donald Trump.

A considerably more negative prognosis on America’s dysfunctional politics, is contained in Divided We Fall by David French. The author, a well-known Christian conservative commentator, believes that while Trump undoubtedly debased America’s democracy and contributed to its crisis, heavy responsibilities must be levelled also on the aggressive militancy of a number of left-wing groups. Radicalization and violent protests, the book concludes, are “leading America on a perilous disunity path.” And it adds a grim warning:

Two decades into the 21st century, the United States is emerging from the  Trumpian upheaval and left and right wing protests  “less united than at any time in its history since the Civil War.”  “The extreme radicalization that afflicts contemporary politics – argues Darrell West, the author of Power Politics – has recast  federalism in an entirely different light. States are innovating in more polarized and extreme directions, and criminalizing behavior that is perfectly lawful in other places. Polarization has deeply fractured society. “Red and blue states, secular and religious groups, all have one thing in common: each believes their distinct cultures and liberties are being threatened by an escalating violent opposition”.

Such is the disconcerting pattern with which the current and future generations of Americans will have to  live. Federalism, with state and local governments that long have been considered “laboratories of democracies,” is called into question. Several states recently have entered a risky phase, that by pitting blue states and cities against red ones, or vice versa, threaten democracy as a whole or create conflicts among different jurisdictions.

Examples abound. Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida have “resolved” the problem of unwanted migrants from the southern border by shipping them by bus and even charter planes to so-called sanctuary cities like Washington, DC, New York City, and the exclusive sea resort of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, where the Kennedys, Obamas and other wealthy families spend their summer holidays.

Why that Texan and Floridian generosity, paid by the respective Governors with funds from their taxpayers? The object is to give the pro-migrant cities and local authorities a taste of their own medicine, disrupting social services and attracting attention at national level, with scant respect shown to innocent people who find themselves in the middle of policy disputes.

Similar issues occur also in states where abortion is now banned and local governments have decided to criminalize not only those seeking an abortion, but even people that provide help. In California, in yet another case, the state has introduced a law allowing anyone to sue people who make or sell assault weapons. The risk, in these and other cases, as Darrell West of the Brookings Institution asserts, is to see federalism entering a new phase of radicalization and intolerance, that may even threaten democracy itself.

(C) 2022-23 Longitude Magazine-VNY La Voce di New York

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Renzo Cianfanelli

Renzo Cianfanelli

Renzo Cianfanelli. Studi classici e laurea in giurisprudenza con specializzazione in economia monetaria, Università La Sapienza, Roma. A Londra per 4 anni con la BBC World Service. Poi corrispondente per il Corriere della Sera da Londra e New York. Inviato a Tokyo, Mosca, Israele, Sudamerica, Cina, Australia, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Iran. Corrispondente di guerra dall’ ex-Jugoslavia, Cecenia, Somalia e altre aree di crisi. Attualmente a New York nella sede dell’ONU. Visiting Scholar, SAIS Johns Hopkins. Vincitore di premi giornalistici (Premio Max David Inviato dell’anno, Premio Hemingway e altri). Per le corrispondenze in Iraq ha ricevuto i gradi di tenente colonnello onorario della Brigata Friuli. Renzo Cianfanelli is an award-winning global correspondent-at-large. Graduated in Law and Monetary Economics at La Sapienza in Rome, Italy, he worked as a broadcaster in London at the BBC. For Corriere della Sera he served as resident correspondent and Bureau Chief in all parts of the world including London, New York, Belgrade and Moscow. As a war correspondent he covered contemporary conflicts from Sarajevo to Baghdad. He is currently based at the UN in New York

DELLO STESSO AUTORE

Today’s UN, Abysmally Humiliated, Needs Another Pérez de Cuéllar

Today’s UN, Abysmally Humiliated, Needs Another Pérez de Cuéllar

byRenzo Cianfanelli
UN’s Censure of Putin’s Aggression Fails to Disguise its Diminished Peacekeeping Role

UN’s Censure of Putin’s Aggression Fails to Disguise its Diminished Peacekeeping Role

byRenzo Cianfanelli

A PROPOSITO DI...

Tags: DemocracyDemocratsfederalismGoppolarizationradicalism
Previous Post

Biden chiama Lula: “Complimenti, lavoreremo insieme”

Next Post

Musk rimuove tutto il Cda di Twitter: ora è lui l’unico amministratore

Discussion about this post

DELLO STESSO AUTORE

What Could America and Russia Possibly Still Have in Common?

What Could America and Russia Possibly Still Have in Common?

byRenzo Cianfanelli
The “Re-Appearing Pheasant”: A Poetic Encounter at Italian Cultural Institute

The “Re-Appearing Pheasant”: A Poetic Encounter at Italian Cultural Institute

byRenzo Cianfanelli

Latest News

Giornata mondiale contro il razzismo: all’ONU parla anche il sindaco di New York Adams

Giornata mondiale contro il razzismo: all’ONU parla anche il sindaco di New York Adams

bySimone d'Altavilla
Tra i piloti militari degli Stati Uniti c’è un altissimo tasso di cancro

Tra i piloti militari degli Stati Uniti c’è un altissimo tasso di cancro

byLa Voce di New York

New York

NYC Hospital is Aiming to Be Hurricane-Proof, After Lessons Learned Hard Way

NYC Hospital is Aiming to Be Hurricane-Proof, After Lessons Learned Hard Way

byDaniel De Crescenzo
Achille Lauro allo Sheraton davanti a oltre 700 studenti: “Chi sogna vince”

Achille Lauro allo Sheraton davanti a oltre 700 studenti: “Chi sogna vince”

byLa Voce di New York

Italiany

La crisi dell’istruzione nel mondo: 2/3 dei bambini non capiscono cosa leggono

Master Fondazione Italia-Usa: altre 200 borse di studio “Next Generation”

byLa Voce di New York
World Pasta Day: negli USA sempre più Made in Italy grazie all’ICE

World Pasta Day: negli USA sempre più Made in Italy grazie all’ICE

byNicola Corradi
Next Post
Musk cambia idea: continuerà a finanziare Starlink in Ucraina

Musk rimuove tutto il Cda di Twitter: ora è lui l'unico amministratore

La Voce di New York

Editor in Chief:  Giampaolo Pioli   |   English Editor: Grace Russo Bullaro

  • New York
    • Eventi
  • Onu
  • News
    • Primo Piano
    • Politica
    • Voto Estero
    • Economia
    • First Amendment
  • People
    • Nuovo Mondo
  • Arts
    • Arte e Design
    • Spettacolo
    • Musica
    • Libri
    • Lingua Italiana
  • Lifestyles
    • Fashion
    • Scienza e Salute
    • Sport
    • Religioni
  • Food & Wine
  • Travel
    • Italia
  • Mediterraneo
  • English
  • Search/Archive
  • About us
    • Editorial Staff
    • President
    • Administration
    • Advertising

VNY Media La Voce di New York © 2016 - 2022
Main Office: 230 Park Avenue, 21floor, New York, NY 10169 | Editorial Office/Redazione: UN Secretariat Building, International Press Corps S-301, New York, NY 10017

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • New York
  • Onu
  • News
    • Elezioni 2022
    • Primo Piano
    • Politica
    • Economia
    • First Amendment
  • Arts
    • Speciale Venezia
    • Arte e Design
    • Spettacolo
    • Musica
    • Libri
  • Lifestyles
    • Fashion
    • Scienza e Salute
    • Sport
    • Religioni
  • Food & Wine
    • Cucina Italiana
  • Travel
    • Italia
  • English
    • Arts
    • Business
    • Entertainment
    • Food & Wine
    • Letters
    • Lifestyles
    • Mediterranean
    • New York
    • News
  • Subscribe for only $6/Year

© 2016/2022 VNY Media La Voce di New York

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In
By clicking on "Create my account" or by registering, you accept the Term of Service and the Privacy Policy.

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?
Utilizziamo i cookie per essere sicuri che tu possa avere la migliore esperienza sul nostro sito. Se continui ad utilizzare questo sito noi assumiamo che tu ne sia felice.Ok