Over the past ten years democracy’s legitimacy has been questioned in America countless times. The country is more divided as ever, and many things that were once considered “status quo” are being overthrown. It seems that the United States is reaching a crescendo of mayhem, and it’s only about time until the rules and norms of democracy “as we know it” snap. As a country, we are in political uproar and confusion. The past two presidents, President Obama and President Trump have enlightened many of us to the deeply rooted problems in our governing system. President Obama’s terms have uncovered how easy it is to gridlock, while so far President Trump threatens our liberal democratic culture, forcing us be disillusioned with democracy.

However, it is not democracy that is endangered. What is troubling most of us, is a shift from liberal democracy to illiberal democracy. As highlighted in article, “Fareed Zakaria made a scary prediction about democracy in 1997- and it’s coming true” by Sean Illing, democracy and liberalism are not synonymous with each other. Many confuse liberalism with democracy.

Liberal democracy isn’t broken, but maybe we are. The most current shift in culture pushes towards a self-interested society. Civic societies (referenced in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America) are losing their hold on American culture. Many of us are more concerned with ourselves than the person next to us. These attitudes are not compatible with liberal democracy. As pointed out by Zakaria, “The whole point of liberal democracy is to create a system that reflects and addresses popular passions…” It is important for all of us to engage with politics and create civil associations to reflect popular passions. One of the reasons why President Trump is so problematic is because he doesn’t adhere to popular passions. His election to President is another example of how the population’s preferences do not represent the outcome.  

For liberal democracy to thrive we need to confront this shift to illiberal democracy and act accordingly, this may mean changing the current political system that we have in place. Maybe it’s time to consider other forms of government as options.