SIF you have been living in a cave for the last few years, here is a reminder from American political scientists: the Democratic Party is a normal party in a democratic system of government, despite its many flaws; but the Republican Party, led by President Donald Trump — and which, before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, controlled both the executive and legislative branches — is something else. The Republican Party, which has become subservient to Trump’s authoritarian impulses and mendacity, is responsible for pushing the oldest democracy in the world into a governing status called “competitive authoritarianism.”
That term simply means democratic institutions, such as elections, still exist, but those in power, by their disregard of the Constitution, the rule of law and democratic norms, make it impossible to meet the “minimum standards” required for a functioning democracy. American political scientists Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way were the first to use the term.
It was that slide into competitive authoritarianism that led to editorials from the mainstream media — the same one that Trump tried to muzzle and bring into submission — that reminded Americans of the grave and historic nature of last week’s midterms. On Oct. 27, the New York Times published an editorial that was unprecedented in its force and clarity. It urged American voters to reject Republican candidates who enabled Trump and his ruinous rule. Two sentences in that editorial were particularly striking:
– “In a 21-month span, Trump has done more harm to democracy and the rule of law than any other president in the modern era, perhaps longer than that.”
– “He has cultivated a culture of corruption and avarice without precedent.”
On the economic front during that period, the US has piled up $40 million in debt and imposed punitive tariffs that roiled the seamless free trade arrangement that America itself initiated more than 80 years ago. Those levies were mostly directed at American allies and close trading partners, as well as vibrant democracies.
Trump also waged a senseless war on Iran without a rationale and game plan, the reason behind much of the economic pains inflicted on emerging economies like the Philippines, which are heavily dependent on Gulf-supplied oil and oil distillates such as diesel and gasoline. Plus, Gulf-supplied fertilizer and pesticides.
On Nov. 3, Americans voted to reclaim their country and prevent what could have been an inexorable slide to full-blown authoritarianism. Some commentators called it the desire of Americans to return to “normalcy and decency.” A tectonic shift in election preferences, called a “blue tsunami” by some, swept even the reddest counties in America on Election Day, with ruby-red Kansas electing a Democratic senator for the first time in a century.
Texas, aptly called by Republican leaders as “the foundation and anchor” of the party, elected a Democratic senator and governor for the first time since the 1980s. Susan Collins, the five-term Republican senator from Maine with a reputation for invincibility and the only Republican senator in New England, was ousted by Troy Jackson, a wooden and uncharismatic state-level politician from the state’s logging areas.
As of Friday morning, the vote tally shows 53 Democratic senators and 44 Republican ones, with the Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi still to be called, though the two Democratic candidates there have narrow leads. Democrats in the House of Representatives have surged past the magic number of 250; the last time they had such a big majority was in 2008. Some House races are yet to be called, but Democratic candidates are leading in them. For the first time in 16 years, there are more Democratic governors than Republican ones, as if to provide an exclamation point to the Republicans’ midterm wipeout.
Nov. 3, which saw voters overwhelmingly choosing to give the Democrats the mandate to rein in Trump’s authoritarian ways, was also, without a doubt, a glorious day for democracy, and its impact will be immediately felt across the democratic world. What is probably most impactful for oil-dependent countries like the Philippines is this piece of news: for the last few days since the Democrats’ midterm victory, oil prices have been softening in the global market, with price drops registered every single day. The oil market has the full grasp of the fact that Democrats in the two chambers of Congress are opposed to the war on Iran, and they are expected to plot the legislative strategies to help end it. Imagine a scenario of an immediate P15 to P20 drop in the pump price of diesel that our truckers, public utility vehicles and farmers use.
Democrats have also vowed to reclaim the tariff-setting powers illegally usurped by Trump through his brazen abuse of executive powers. Just a few months back, an additional 10-percent tariff was imposed on Philippine exports to the US on the baseless and unproven ground of “unfair labor practices.” The Philippines and other major trading partners hard hit by the Trump tariffs will immensely befit by the reversal of the tariffs.
The oligarchs — mostly tech overlords — who enabled Trump’s autocratic rule via the manipulation of their powerful social media platforms and outsized political contributions — Elon Musk funded Republican candidates’ campaigns with $500 million in this election cycle alone — will also be held into account, with Democratic lawmakers now vested with subpoena powers.
Remember that many of the winning Democrats campaigned on the promise that government policies will now be focused on the needs of ordinary Americans, and “not on the needs of the Elon Musks and Mark Zuckerbergs.” This is what a democracy is truly all about.
