Polling has revealed a growing number of Americans express a lack of confidence in US democracy amidst a broader crisis of legitimacy of US institutions. Lawmakers in Washington consistently stress the importance of exporting American-style freedom and democracy around the globe, but recent evidence suggests the United States\u2019 system of governance has seen better days.<\/p>\n
\u201cBiden, Trump are least-liked pair of major party presidential candidates in at least 3 decades,\u201d declared a report by the Pew Research Center polling firm. \u201cWith the 2024 U.S. presidential election about five months away, a quarter of Americans hold unfavorable views of both major party candidates \u2013 President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the highest share expressing negative views of both candidates in surveys conducted at about this point in the election cycle by the Center and other organizations dating back to the 1988 election.\u201d<\/p>\n
Online media outlet Axios identified a number of groups making up the growing number of Americans who reject both major candidates. Among the groups are \u201cold-guard\u201d moderate conservatives who dislike former President Donald Trump but remain committed to the Republican Party and \u201ctechno-optimists\u201d driven by civil libertarian concerns over issues like free speech.<\/p>\n
National Guard troops continue to guard the grounds of the US Capitol building in the extended security perimeter around Capitol Hill following the January 6th attack by a pro-Trump mob on February 11, 2021, in Washington, DC. – Sputnik International, 1920, 18.10.2023 Americas Growing Portions of Americans Now Believe Democracy \u2018No Longer Viable System\u2019 – Poll 18 October 2023, 22:35 GMT.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the largest group of \u201cdouble haters\u201d are pro-Palestinian voters, including Arab-Americans and young people who oppose Biden\u2019s support for Israel\u2019s deadly military operation in Gaza. Trump also remains unpalatable for this segment of the population given the former president\u2019s steadfast pro-Israel stance and threats to deport pro-Palestine campus demonstrators studying in America on student visas.<\/p>\n
\u201cActivists are increasingly rejecting the \u2018lesser of two evils\u2019 paradigm that historically has benefited Democrats, raising the risk that they’ll boycott the election or vote third party,\u201d Axios reported. Among prominent third-party US candidates, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also expressed a pro-Zionist stance, but Green Party candidate Jill Stein has distinguished herself as a supporter of the Palestinian cause. The activist and physician was arrested at a pro-Palestine demonstration in St. Louis in April.<\/p>\n
Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver has also pledged to \u201cend the genocide\u201d against Palestinians if elected president. A number of smaller left-wing formations such as the Party for Socialism and Liberation also oppose US backing of Israel, but third-party candidates typically struggle for influence and recognition in the United States\u2019 pay-to-play political system.<\/p>\n
The last time such a large percentage of Americans rejected both US major party presidential candidates was in 2016, when a full 20% of Americans expressed rejection of both Trump and former US Senator Hillary Clinton. Since the 2016 US presidential election, both major party candidates have faced off with voter approval ratings under 50%.<\/p>\n
A substantial portion of Americans also rejected both major party candidates in 1992, with observers at the time noting the similarity between former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush. Both figures supported the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as neoliberal economic policy was embraced by the Republican and Democratic Parties alike.<\/p>\n
The development led to the entry of American business magnate Ross Perot into the race, who famously warned of the \u201cgiant sucking sound\u201d of US jobs being shipped abroad as a result of free trade policies. Perot has been praised as \u201cprescient\u201d in retrospect for his criticism of neoliberal economic policy, which he cautioned would \u201cwreck the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
NAFTA has also been blamed for impoverishing many Mexican family farmers, who were driven out of business by the import of cheap US agricultural products in Mexico. The free trade agreement and similar CAFTA agreement for Central America have led to a surge of immigration from Latin America as workers seek to escape economic policies and political destabilization imposed by Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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