Observer: America’s role of guarantor of democracy based on flimsy grounds 美国民主制度存在严重缺陷（国际论坛）肯尼思·哈蒙德 By Professor Ken Hammond | People’s Daily Dec 14, 2021
American President Joe Biden convened a cyber “Democracy Summit” with leaders of a number of other countries on December 9 and 10, though the list of invitees was carefully constructed to include countries friendly to the United States and to exclude countries which in the eyes of American political elites do not accommodate US interests.
The gathering’s true intent was to shore up America’s role as the sole planetary superpower and attempt to perpetuate its ability to impose its own “rules-based order” on global society. America’s claim to be the guarantor of democracy is based on rather flimsy grounds.
Recent events have highlighted the deep and ongoing inequalities within the US, with racism, gender issues, and worsening poverty and economic decline marginalizing the voices of millions of citizens. Efforts to exclude people of color from exercising their voting rights have been spreading, along with an overall discrediting of the legitimacy of the electoral process.
But the equation of a two-party electoral system with democracy in America is itself an exercise in wishful thinking. The domination of national and state governments by the two mainstream parties has no place in the original constitution. The revolving door of majority and minority roles in the government means that each party can simply blame the other for the persistent problems plaguing the country. Neither party ever has to accept full responsibility for its performance in government.
The electoral process itself is warped and distorted by the power of money. Campaigning for national or state offices requires vast sums of cash, either as the personal wealth of candidates, or coming from wealthy individuals or corporations seeking to protect and promote their own interests. This is why so many members of Congress are themselves millionaires. Money buys control over information, sometimes directly, but also through the relentless presentation of the existing order of things as the only possible way of carrying on political and economic life.
Through the mass news media, online information, as well as the constant messaging of radio, television, movies and other kinds of “entertainment,” the consciousness of the American voter is shaped to accept the powers that be as the sole option to “represent” them. Efforts to bring about true social change, to create a just and equitable society, are dismissed as idealist fantasies. Cynicism and passivity are the real basis of the power of the system.
Other societies, though, have sought ways to promote and protect the interests of ordinary people in ways that go beyond the simple acting out of brief electoral moments. In China, for example, a wide variety of mechanisms are in place to enable people to articulate their needs and interests, not only on the days of formal elections, but whenever they feel the need to do so. China’s system of democratic consultation is very different from that of the United States, but should not be dismissed or misrepresented in the West.
Biden’s “Democracy Summit” holds up the American way as the only way, which reflects the long history of the US seeking to reshape the world in its own image, for its own interests. But other peoples have their own cultures, their own ways of doing things. America would do well to respect the rights of peoples to decide the form of government under which they choose to live, and to organize their political affairs in ways which suit their own ideas and beliefs.
The economic and political affairs of the world are being reshaped in ways which are bringing about a multicentric order, one within which the United States will no longer be the dominant power. American elites have become accustomed to telling people all over the planet how to run their lives, and to using the economic and military power of the U.S. to enforce their will when other countries fail to toe the American line. But this era is fading. American politicians fear the loss of power, and the possible consequences of having to operate in a world where those they have oppressed and exploited for their own profits now have an increasingly significant voice in global affairs. Biden’s efforts to weaponize “democracy” are part of this rearguard action to try to hold on to American hegemonic power.
Rather than posturing about the superiority of a system which is in fact deeply flawed, and which in reality serves the interests of the already wealthy and powerful, American leaders, and the American people, should be seeking ways to work with people around the world, on their own terms, to find paths to a better future, a more just and equitable world which we can all build together. Hope is better than fear, peace is better than war.
(The author is Professor of History and Academic Department Head in the Department of History at New Mexico State University.)
美国民主制度存在严重缺陷（国际论坛）肯尼思·哈蒙德 《 人民日报 》（ 2021年12月14日 第 17 版）
美国民主制度存在严重缺陷，这一制度事实上只服务于富人和强者的利益。美国政府将“民主”武器化，是为了维持其霸权地位
美国自称是“民主的守护者”，但这一说辞根本站不住脚。美国国内发生的一系列事件，凸显美国种族和性别不平等根深蒂固、贫富差距日益扩大等社会问题。美国把有色人种排除在合法选民之外的做法不断蔓延，选举过程的合法性遭到广泛质疑。
美国将本国的两党制与民主等同起来，这本身就是一厢情愿的想法。在美国政府中，两党轮流执政，这意味着每一个政党都可以简单地将困扰该国的问题归咎于对方，两党都不必为自己在政府中的表现承担全部责任。
美国民主制度存在严重缺陷，这一制度事实上只服务于富人和强者的利益。在美国，选举过程被金钱扭曲。竞选联邦或州一级公职，需要大量的资金，这些资金要么来自候选人的个人财富，要么来自寻求保护和促进自身利益的富有个人或公司。这就是为什么那么多国会议员本身就是百万富翁。金钱还可以实现对信息的控制，美国的新闻媒体主要由富有的利益集团、大型媒体公司和受惠于富有捐助者的政客控制。利益集团通过媒体不断传递有利于他们的信息，来塑造美国的政治经济秩序。美国选民只能被动地接受所谓的“民选代表”做出的这一切安排。一些想要实现真正的社会变革、建设一个公正和平等社会的努力，则被视为幻想而被抛弃。
和美国形成对比的是，其他国家不断寻求方法来促进和保护普通民众的利益，而不仅仅是在短暂的选举时刻采取简单的行动。例如，中国有各种各样的制度保障人们能够表达他们的需求和利益。西方不应轻视或歪曲这种制度。美国把自身的民主模式作为世界唯一的出路，反映出美国为了自己的利益，以自身模式塑造世界的历史文化。然而，每个国家都有自己的文化传统和行事方式。美国应该尊重各国人民自主选择发展道路的权利，尊重各国人民以适合自身的方式组织政治事务的权利。
当前，世界政治经济秩序面临深刻调整，世界多极化趋势深入发展。美国政治精英们习惯于告诉世界各地的人们，他们该如何管理自己的生活，美国还利用其经济和军事力量打压或威慑那些被其视为异己的国家。美国政客害怕失去权力，害怕其他国家在全球事务中有越来越重要的话语权。美国政府将“民主”武器化的做法，是美国试图维持其霸权地位行动的一部分。
希望终将战胜恐惧，和平是人类的共同愿望。美国应该在相互尊重的基础上与其他国家合作，共同寻找通往更美好未来的道路，共同建设一个更加公平、公正的世界。
（作者为美国新墨西哥州立大学历史学教授）
Johnson Choi Biz 