Example of true democracy

To an uninformed South African who is used to 50 political parties contesting a general election, the US two-party system may not be the kind of democracy they would like. Yet it is hailed as the most advanced in the world and America the freest country.

There, voter activism rather than party activism is key because no party membership exists. The president is not elected by the people and does not have to be liked by the voters because the popular vote has very little bearing on the outcome. One US political scientist said “those votes can be thrown away”.

This means the losing candidate could still go to the White House via electoral college votes. This happened in 2016, when Hillary Clinton was voted for by the majority, but Donald Trump became president after he reached the 270 electoral college votes threshold.

Political scientists concede that the US democracy is strange and imperfect and was never meant it to be perfect. Instead, the founders of the US constitution wanted a federal system with strong checks and balances. It was designed to be a representative system rather than a unitary central government system.

Numerous attempts had been made in the past 200 years to amend the constitution, to no avail. Besides the US Supreme Court, as the final arbiter of a constitutional crisis, is not keen to interfere with the constitution. Another interesting element is that votes counted after the election can still be added to the tally. Imagine a situation where someone has already won and popped a cork, only for the mailed votes later giving the victory to the “losing”candidate.

However, an expert said post-election mailed votes rarely altered election night results as they tended to be minuscule. A fascinating fight happens when Congress is dominated by the nonruling party. This results in tension as the president has to sign legislation from the House, who often reject proposals.

If he feels the House stands in his way, he invokes his power to issue executive orders and make executive appointments that must be ratified by the Senate. Trump relied heavily on the Senate to protect him and approve his decisions. He was saved by the Senate from an impeachment by the Democratic-dominated House over his alleged bid to seek help from Ukraine for his 2016 presidential bid. They voted against the idea.

No president may tell the party how to vote or act and the party cannot discipline the member who opposed the president or a party position. This is contrary to South Africa where the ANC, Democratic Alliance, Economic Freedom Fighters and others have fired members who “voted with the opposition” against a party position. Voter activism plays a crucial role in the US electoral process.

People base their balloting on issues rather than political party loyalty, as is the case in South Africa. They change political parties depending on what a candidate has to offer. In the US, minorities such as Hispanics and Asian-Americans have become a significant voting bloc due to their growing numbers and with African-Americans, comprise a voting majority.

On the other hand, polls show that the white voting population is diminishing. The US constitutional democracy may be “faulty” in our eyes, but it’s a far better option than a majoritarian democracy where one party dominates. It provides for practical, decentralised bottom-up decision-making – that’s true democracy.

Political journalist Eric Naki.

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