WASHINGTON —
President Joe Biden called on world leaders to issue new commitments to democracy, even as the United States itself faces some of the gravest threats to its democratic traditions and institutions in years.
As the president prepares to hold his administration's first Democracy Summit, determined to show the world that democracy can still work, the nation long held as a shining example is taking a relapse.
Politics
Locally elected officials are resigning at an alarming rate amid confrontations with angry voices at school board meetings, elections offices and town halls. States are passing laws to limit access to vote, making it more difficult for Americans to cast ballots.
And the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol has left many in a political party clinging to Donald Trump's false claims that the election was stolen from him, undermining confidence in the reliability of the vote.
America must do better, critics at home and abroad insist.
“Can our democracy overcome the lies, anger, hate and fears that have driven us apart?” Biden asked during a joint session of Congress early in his presidency, months after the insurrection on Capitol Hill.
“America’s adversaries—the autocrats of the world—are betting we can’t.”
This is a troubling time for the world's leading democracy as authoritarianism grows across the globe, raising questions about America's ability to lead by example and increasing pressure on the Biden administration to not only promote democracy abroad but to do more to shore it up at home.
USA
As allies prepare to participate in the virtual two-day summit, the White House addresses the summit "from humility," understanding that no democracy is perfect, not even the United States, according to a senior official who requested anonymity in order to comment on the matter.
At the forum, which will be attended by some 110 countries to announce new commitments to strengthen democracy, Biden plans to speak about the importance of voting rights in the country, just as he did on the anniversary of the Martin Luther memorial King Jr. in the capital, the official said.
At the time, the president described the voting process as “the fundamental right” and lamented the moves to restrict voting as “the most un-American thing” imaginable.
The president also said passage of his ambitious domestic agenda — the bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure initiative he signed into law as well as the roughly $2 trillion climate change and social initiatives that advance in the Senate—will demonstrate how democracy can improve people's lives.
“America has a thriving democracy, but it's been hurt in recent years,” said Michael Abramowitz, president of Freedom House, whose annual report marked the 15th straight year of democratic decline worldwide.