If it was ever in doubt, the impact of political leaders calling into question the legitimacy of democratic processes has become starkly clear in the days following the election in the United States of America.

The last few days have seen many events that (for me) run counter to the idea of democracy; notably protests and manifestations by apparent supporters of the incumbent President calling into question the democratic process – and as has been seen, with contradictory messages depending upon whether or not President Trump is currently leading in the count or not…

Perhaps more worrying however, is the frequency and vociferousness with which apparent Trump supporters are willing to re-voice the unfounded protestations from President Trump concerning voter fraud, illegality and partisan treatment: the tone of the message being that Joe Biden is ‘stealing’ the election.  This impact I would contest, is a direct result of allowing people in positions of power to make unsubstantiated assertions without any independent form of evaluation or redress.  This week saw the current President use the platform of government to clearly state that the election process being used is flawed and biased against him personally.  Alongside this lack of independent redress is the deafening silence from most other members of the Republican party concerning the statements being made.  It would seem therefore, that the Republican Senators and Representatives are perfectly happy to let the situation play out – if Donald Trump manages to challenge the election results, then they can happily state that they defend his behaviour, and if Donald Trump fails, then they can likewise claim that they never supported it.  One thing is clear to me – the goal here is power; and no regard will be paid to how that goal is achieved.

This ‘division’ of opinion is just that: opinion.  Irrespective of whatever evidence may eventually be released and seen, it would seem that a large section of the American population will forever believe that this election was ‘stolen’…  What then will be the story for future elections?  How can confidence in the election process be restored once the government of the day refuses to support it?  How can the voting public ever hope to have a chance to understand clearly what has occurred if the election news and bulletins are couched in opinion and innuendo?

This year has already seen very prominent politicians renege on promises made to the public – politicians which were subsequently re-elected by their constituencies (Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham to name but two).  It would be easy to argue that such re-elections are due as much to gerrymandering as to the lack of interest of the voters; however from my perspective it seems very clear that the biggest problem is the partisan nature of Party Politics.  Politicians which are members of a Party have a vested interest in supporting their ‘party’ no matter what: a behaviour which (if nothing else) fully enables an environment which allows politicians to fume and spout bile towards their opponents without any evidence or independent support.  The very existence of partisan ‘bubbles’ in which citizens live, ensures that what is said by someone of one party will be believed by some and what is said by someone of another party will not.  Any ‘bubble’ can only hope to provide a rounded picture where there exist voices of all opinions within that ‘bubble’ – and for as long as members of each party stick together and fail to denounce egregious lies and abuses of power – including by those of their own party – then there will be no balance; only division.  It seems to me that this political theatre has been arrived at because the purveyors of political lies and innuendo have been allowed free and unfettered access to public platforms from which to spew their bile – and this, unchecked by any independent democratic body…  For as long as the media in all its forms are seen to also be partisan, then people will remain safe in their beliefs, and able to cast aside all argument from bodies which appear to them to be aligned with a ‘bubble’ with which they do not identify.

This is not an issue faced only in the Unites States of America – the exact same partisan bubbles were at the forefront of the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom; the same lack of evidenced opinions permeated the ‘debate’ and resulted in the same establishment of deep division across the voting public.

Politics has lost all credibility – and this is due (and continues to be supported by) political processes which encourage, nay demand partisanship.  When members of one party defend, or even fail to condemn abuses by other members of their party, then there is no credibility to be had.

So how can this situation be recovered?  How after having seen even the perception of democracy reduced to nothing more than whether or not you win or lose, can voters find confidence that the voting systems are (as they purport to be) fair and impartial?

A first step would be to remove political parties, to remove the need for politicians to stand by each other in their vainglorious search for power.  Politics would be better served by independent politicians, people who garner support for their positions through argument and debate – not merely by demonstrating adherence to a ‘colour’.  Furthermore, political processes should be policed by bodies (other than the politicians themselves) which have a real power to sanction politicians for abuses – lies to the public should be condemned and politicians guilty of the same should be removed from office.  Boris Johnson has repeatedly lied to both the public and the parliament, likewise Donald Trump.  If there is no mechanism to prevent this, then as we have seen – it will not be prevented.

Yes, Trump has thankfully been voted out – but his approach, and the defensive of it by his party may have irreparably damaged politics and divided a nation.  What price political ‘process’?