Can American democracy survive the Internet age?
· UPIMay 20 (UPI) -- No matter where anyone looks, democracy seems to be on the run or in decline, failing to provide the governing the public wants, needs and demands.
The most prominent examples are the United Kingdom and the United states. The U.K. has had five prime ministers in a decade. The current one, Keith Starmer, is leaking oil badly after a near-record election victory in 2024 At the least, his political survival is surely in question.
Both the Conservative and Labour parties are being overtaken by Reform and the Greens. It is possible that Nigel Farage, leader of Reform, in concert with the Greens and other splinter groups, could become Britain's next and sixth prime minister.
However, as has been the case in the past -- notably in France and Italy -- multiparty parliaments find great difficulty in governing.
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In the United States, a significant majority of the public opposes the war in Iran. A greater number are being financially crushed by the rising costs of fuel, food and other commodities affected by the war. President Donald Trump's standing in opinion polls continues to drop and is now in the mid-30% approval range.
In essence, the United States has four de facto parties: two Republican and two Democratic. Trump has indeed manhandled Republicans into the TOP, not GOP, for Trump's Own Party. Traditional Republicans have nowhere to go. Independents have no clout, and becoming Democrats is unacceptable. As Louisiana senator and physician Bill Cassidy learned, to oppose Trump is to be drummed out of office.
The TOP is MAGA-bent -- not so much an ideology of the far left or right, but a cult in which the leader's whims are supreme and can indulge the extremes depending on the issue. It is also a party or movement that embraces entitlement. The old cliché about going to Washington to "do good" and then "do well" has rarely felt more accurate."
Whether legal or not, the faithful in MAGA -- and especially Trump Inc. -- are doing very well indeed in fattening their holdings and net worth. The proposed government-funded $1 billion-plus slush fund to pay reparations to loyalists for past mistreatment is a stunning example of this behavior.
The Democrats, too, are split between the left wing and what used to be the traditional Democrats. Two New Yorkers, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, lead the first group. It is unclear who will assume control of the latter.
Ex-presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama could fill that role and, indeed, Obama seems to be re-entering politics. However, it is unclear how much Obama will attempt to take control of the party.
The result is a Congress (and Supreme Court) that fails to take constitutional authorities seriously, deferring to a unitary executive -- the president -- to rule as he wishes.
Even when the court decides against him, as with tariffs, Trump finds an alternative route. And laws such as the War Powers Act are ignored on a partisan basis. Gerrymandering has become fair game by shifting districts to assure, or at least encourage, success in the November congressional elections.
MAGAites have gone after opponents by using the law. Former FBI head James Comey and former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell are two of many examples. But, what happens when the Democrats win both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue? Another day of reckoning will provide possibly greater levels of revenge politics.
How then did both great democracies arrive at this dreadful state of governance. Many factors are involved. In the case of the United States, the Internet and social media may have had the greatest impact. Why?
In the past, traditional print and electronic media dominated the news and communications. The Internet and cell phones democratized that. Given free speech, anyone could say virtually whatever they wanted without any censoring.
Language degraded. As politics became more partisan, the Internet became the message and the messenger. Today, Trump has Truth Social on which he can make the most outrageous and incendiary statements.
That has become contagious. And a change in party control of government is only likely to exacerbate this unwanted and dangerous condition. It may be uncertain how the Internet has contributed to the demise of politics in the U.K.. But there can be no doubt as to the effects of the Internet age on the demise of America's democracy.
Harlan Ullman is senior adviser at Washington's Atlantic Council, chairman of a private company and principal author of the doctrine of shock and awe. His next book, co-written with Field Marshal The Lord David Richards, former U.K. chief of defense, and due out this fall, is Who Thinks Best Wins: How Decisive Strategic Thinking Will Prevent Global Chaos. The writer can be reached on X @harlankullman.