The US has been downgraded to a "flawed democracy," but not just because of Trump

[highplainsdem]

Source: Quartz

A new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit confirms that democracy is in retreat in the US, but Trump isn’t to blame.

The US has lost its status as a “full democracy” and is now what the research group calls a “flawed democracy,” thanks to an erosion of public trust in political institutions that pre-dates Trump’s victory. In the EIU’s ninth annual Democracy Index, the number of full democracies around the world fell to 19, from 20 the year before. America’s downgrade puts it at 21 in the rankings, below Japan and even with Italy.

The US has been “teetering on the brink of becoming a flawed democracy” for years, the report says. Regardless of the result of the 2016 presidential election, the US was due a downgrade. Trust has been declining in the US for decades, leaving the country’s institutions battling a “legitimacy crisis” and struggling to sustain representative democracy in its current form, the report says.

-snip-

By tapping a deep strain of political disaffection with the functioning of democracy, Mr Trump became a beneficiary of the low esteem in which US voters hold their government, elected representatives and political parties, but he was not responsible for a problem that has had a long gestation.

-snip-

Read more: https://qz.com/894362/america-has-been-downgraded-to-a-flawed-democracy-but-not-because-of-trump-economist-intelligence-unit-says/

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Found via a tweet frodm Christiane Amanpour:

Link to tweet

[JudyM]

1. Let's see this picked up by the major outlets & generate calls for the REAL investigation.

[watoos]

2. So what's the next downgrade after flawed democracy?

because we certainly aren't going to stay at flawed democracy for very long when Trump gets through with America.
I wonder if North Korea is worried that we are catching up to them?

[rogue emissary]

5. Kleptocracy, or Plutocracy but probably failed state.

[randome]

7. I think you mean, "Catching down to them".

[hr][font color="blue"][center]No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. Yet.[/center][/font][hr]

[highplainsdem]

11. Hybrid regime. Below that, at the bottom, authoritarian regime. Wikipedia link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index

[weissmam]

3. with teh GOP bashing the goverment every chance they get

is this a surprise

[LeftInTX]

4. Stats to compare from 2015 available from Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index#Democracy_index_by_country_.282015.29


The 2016 report is available with registration at the Economist.
http://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=DemocracyIndex2016

[DK504]

9. Malta

We are far down the list from Malta. I mean really.

[LeftInTX]

10. The UK scored lower than Malta

I really don't know anything about Malta, except that on the soap, As the World Turns, someone had a lover from Malta. I kept wondering, "Why Malta? Is it the origin of red hot lovers?"

[Hekate]

6. It's been a 30+ year GOP project in denigrating the govt & teaching people to distrust it

They must be so proud of themselves.

[Rex]

8. We've been a plutocracy for decades, however, good to see someone finally

paying attention. America is nowhere near the liberal democracy experts pretend it is. Never has been.

[Deuce]

13. I agree...

[bdamomma]

12. K&R