Is the US Still a Democracy?

Is the US Still a Democracy?

Robert A. Levine

When does a democracy cease to be? Have we reached that point yet or are we getting close? The essence of a democratic system is the opportunity for every citizen to be able to choose who his or her representatives will be in the local, state and federal governments. This prerogative is being taken away from many citizens in various states, particularly those with a reddish hue. Republican state legislatures are tightening voter laws in every way they can, making it more difficult for people to cast ballots.

Gerrymandering has long been a problem, but is only getting worse as partisanship increases. Congressional and state legislative districts are being drawn by state legislatures to give the party in power, usually the Republicans, to win a disproportionate number of seats in relation to the votes it receives. The Republicans in North Carolina received a very minimal majority vote in eth 2022 elections, but gained a supermajority in the state legislature due to gerrymandering. Similarly, a new Congressional map drawn by the new legislature is projected to add three GOP Congressional seats to the current delegation. This blatant political gerrymandering of districts was upheld by the North Carolina Supreme Court which has a five to two Republican majority. Other states are or have proceeded with the same type of mechanisms to aid them in winning the state legislatures and additional Congressional seats though the process is obviously unfair and undemocratic. And the state courts for the most part are upholding these political maneuvers.

But that is not all that Republican controlled states are doing. Some have eliminated voting by mail because that makes it easier to vote and more people are likely to vote. The legislatures have also cut down on the number of voting days and hours and have curtailed the number of drop boxes for mail-in ballots where they are still allowed. In fact the number of these drop boxes makes it necessary for residents to often travel great distances to place their ballots in drop boxes which are frequently overstuffed. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott issued an order limiting drop boxes to one per county. This means that Houston, with almost five million residents has only one box where all its citizens can deposit their votes. Houston just happens to be a city dominated by minorities who would tend to vote Democratic.

Other ways Republicans are making it more difficult for minorities to vote is by asking for specific IDs that out of state students and minorities may not have. These may include state driver’s licenses which poor people who do not own cars and students from out of state may not have. They are also scrutinizing voter IDs for any slight discrepancies which will enable them to invalidate the voter.

Republican states are also trying to limit the power of the people by changing the rules on referenda. They have seen that the majority of people in many red states favor abortion and perhaps are against other issues that conservatives want to enact. Thus, the state legislatures in some states are requiring a super-majority instead of a simple majority for a referendum issue to pass and in some cases the state legislatures are able to overturn the results of the referendum. Who cares about the voice of the people? The GOP feels the people in their states will not care about the changes and will not do anything about them.

Instead of trying to make it easier for citizens to vote and have a say in policy, red state legislators are making it more difficult, trying to eliminate many of whom they consider voters who lean Democratic. Unfortunately, the state court systems in most Republican controlled states and the Supreme Court are dominated by Republicans and do whatever they can to limit the power of Democratic voters. There is no consideration of democracy, merely winning at all costs, even if it means doing things that are underhanded and unfair. A one party nation would suit these Republicans fine. Who needs elections in the first place?

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Roe v Wade and America's Secular Democracy

Roe v Wade and America’s Secular Democracy

                                    Robert A. Levine   May 10, 2022

Is America a secular democracy? Is there supposed to be separation of church and state according to the Constitution? If both of these precepts are valid, which I believe they are, Roe v Wade should not be in question. Abortion is a secular medical and psychological issue which should be determined by individual women and their physicians. State governments, the federal government, or the courts should not be playing any role in telling women what they can or cannot do with their bodies. Are any of these institutions able to tell men with enlarged prostates whether or not they should be allowed to have them removed? Or should men with testicular cancer receive government permission to have their testicles removed and kill all their sperm which have the potential to produce life. Of course not. It is up to the individual man to decide what to do with his own body.

So should it be with women. Unfortunately, certain churches are against abortion, even if it occurs before the time of viability for the fetus. Actually, adherents to the Catholic Church and Evangelical sects are the driving forces trying to limit abortion. With political pressure, these church groups have been able to gain control of many state legislatures and the courts in an attempt to ban abortion. They have been successful in many states and it appears that the Supreme Court is about to overturn Roe v Wade and ban abortion. Even though churches should have no political roles according to the Constitution, a minority of people who are ardently religious are interfering in the affairs of the secular state to ban a procedure that the majority of Americans believe should be legal. In fact, it is much more than a majority. Recent polls have had Americans in favor of keeping Roe v Wade as it is in the range of two thirds, varying from 60 to 70 percent.

If religion were removed from the equation, there would be no conflict on the abortion issue. If Americans truly want the Constitution to be followed, and church and state to remain separated, they should allow the majority to rule and keep Roe v Wade as the law of the land. Opponents of abortion say that there was no mention of abortion in the Constitution and thus it is not a guaranteed right for women. But the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion for all Americans and says that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. One must assume that this is also true for all federal and state government bodies. Since prohibition of abortion is a religious issue that conflicts with the secular state, government should not pass any laws regarding abortion one way or another, as it should remain up to every woman to make a choice of what to do when she is pregnant on her own. Roe v Wade should have been considered unnecessary by the Supreme Court as the First Amendment already covered the right to an abortion.

Unfortunately, abortion has become an issue in America because some religions consider it immoral. Well, there is no reason that religious people who are against abortion have to submit to that procedure. But they should not be able to impose their will on the majority of the nation who believe that abortion is a woman’s right and up to each individual. The state should not impose religious values of a minority on all Americans, but should abide by separation of church and state.

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