The Need to Uphold Democratic Values

Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States and Kamala Harris scripted history by becoming the first-ever woman vice president of the country on January 20, bringing an end to unprecedented tamasha and commotion that ensued for more than two months. The scaled down swearing in ceremony had to be conducted under tight security following the storming of the Capitol Hill by the supporters of the outgoing president Donald Trump that left five dead earlier this month. Trump ended his campaign for the presidency on an anti-climax, undermining the tradition of smooth transition of power that has been practiced in American democracy for decades. He refused to accept the defeat in the presidential election and continued to rant, both on and off social networking sites, till the Capitol Hill riot silenced him to some extent and forced social media giants to ban him. The whole world was closely watching all the unpleasant events unfold in the world’s greatest nation, caused by the desperation of its incumbent president to stay in the White House despite an obvious defeat. It was a dark day in the history of the US and democracy. Trump, who now faces an impeachment trial over the Capitol violence, has set a bad precedent by failing to guard the democratic institutions and traditions that his predecessors had upheld all these years. It was unnecessary and avoidable.

However, the dramatic turn of events exposed how fragile democracy can be. Biden will face many challenges like polarised society, the ongoing pandemic and economic crisis but there is also a need to dig deeper, dissect and find out what actually led to the recent Capitol riot. It’s a matter of worry when the very institution that the most world’s powerful country has been taking pride in safeguarding, can be so easily shaken. It was also disturbing to see a huge population being swayed by rhetoric and made to believe baseless claims and lies. This underlines the need to strengthen and maintain democracy rather than lecturing about its merits and advantages over other forms of government as well as export to the world. It is important to know that democracy is not just about representation; it is an ideology and a tradition. Political parties, civil societies and government institutions should uphold the values of democracy and keep its instruments strong. The circumstances that allowed Trump to incite chaos also needs to be looked into with all seriousness. Biden should not succumb to political and social challenges but bail America out of the problems it is facing today. With vast political experience as a longtime senator, he should be the right person to save democracy and ensure that its basic tenets are not destroyed.