#democracy

#democracy

In a fight as important as the one to save American democracy from the grips of would-be autocrats and dictators, we must partner with people who would otherwise be our political opponents. We must welcome them to the cause and put aside other disagreements, at least for the time being. This is a lesson dissidents in unfree places understand well, but not one that comes easy to Americans. It is a lesson I hope to personally demonstrate in today's episode.

In a political manoeuvre of breathtaking cynicism, Simon Harris yesterday instructed Fine Gael councillors to block any Independent seeking a nomination in the presidential election. Under his leadership, the party's popularity sank to a 30-year low of 16pc in April, according to one opinion poll. As if to crystallise his unpopularity and detachment from the electorate after the disastrous family and care referendums last year, he now is impeding basic democracy.

In 1985, at the tender age of 22, I played against 32 chess computers at the same time in Hamburg, West Germany. Believe it or not, I beat all 32 of them. Those were the golden days for me. Computers were weak, and my hair was strong. Just 12 years later, in 1997, I was in New York City fighting for my chess life against just one machine: a $10 million IBM supercomputer nicknamed Deep Blue.

And here are the three sentences I've said over and over since 2016 when I first said it in Silicon Valley, backed by data and hard-fought experience. Without facts, you can't have truth. Without truth, you can't have trust. Without trust, we have no shared reality. We can't begin to solve any problems, let alone existential ones like climate change. We can't have journalism, we can't have democracy.

In many ways, the race for the Áras is unique. Ordinarily, positions in public life are swayed by political expediency and partisanship, but the representative role of the presidency is less about the machinations of power and more about offering a relevant societal voice, reflecting our interests and identity. The office-holder is not burdened with concerns about the next general election, and ought therefore to have more of an eye for the next generation.

Trump's joke about potentially suspending elections during a war was met with backlash, highlighting concerns over his intentions regarding democracy and power.

"Republicans are implementing a blueprint to displace democracy with a government powered by Christian nationalism and techno-fascism. Conservative estimates count at least 10 million people having their healthcare ripped away."

"We're doing it in reaction to that act. We're doing it mindful of our higher angels, and better angels. We're doing it mindful that we want to model better behavior, as we've been doing for 15 years in the state of California," Newsom said, referring to the state's popular independent redistricting commission.

As democracy faced a significant test in the 2024 election, economic concerns emerged as the primary motivator for voter support, overshadowing fears of authoritarianism.

If we get through this period with our democracy intact rather than sliding into a Hungary-like competitive authoritarianism, it will be a significant achievement.

Enes Hocaogullari, a 23-year-old LGBTQ+ advocate, stressed in his speech that youth are fed up and are ready to take to the streets to reclaim their freedoms.

The recent parliamentary elections in Poland marked a significant turning point, as the national populists of the Law and Justice party were ousted from power with a record 75% voter turnout.

"Law firms, universities and now civil society groups are in Trump's sights for punitive action," noted the Associated Press in April, as the Trump administration moved to cut over $1 billion in federal funding to nonprofits from Meals on Wheels to Head Start.

A landmark article published last year by scholars Andrew Little and Rachel Meng shook the field of political science by demonstrating that most evidence for claims of a "crisis of democracy" comes from "democracy scores" based on subjective opinions.

This bill hands over a staggering $170bn to the Department of Homeland Security to ramp up this administration's brutal immigration enforcement agenda.

Voters possess the power to select candidates, support campaigns, and engage with Congress, emphasizing the importance of active participation in democracy to counter the prevailing atmosphere of fear.

An army of outside statisticians, demographers and computer scientists have joined forces to capture, preserve and share data sets, sometimes clandestinely, ensuring their future availability.

Elections are imperfect reflections of public sentiment, but they are the least worst means to distribute political power. Each vote does count.

The Federal Constitutional Court is seen as the "guardian of Germans' basic rights" and only court to decide on banning a political party.

We had voter impersonation at Kenmare polling station... A Caherciveen man pleaded guilty but avoided a conviction for electoral fraud after he used a polling card, not in his name, that went missing from a vehicle.