China issues report on US' democracy

(3) The checks and balances have resulted in a "vetocracy"

American political scientist Francis Fukuyama points out in his book Political Order and Political Decay?that there is an entrenched political paralysis in the US. The US political system has far too many checks and balances,?raising the cost of collective action and in some cases making it impossible altogether. Fukuyama calls the system a "vetocracy". Since the 1980s, the "vetocracy"?of the US?has become a formula for gridlock.

The?US democratic process is fragmented and lengthy, with a lot of veto points where individual veto players can block action by the whole body. The function of "checks and balances", which was purportedly designed to prevent abuse of power, has been?distorted in American political practice. Political polarization continues to grow?as the two parties drift further apart in?political agenda and?their?areas of consensus have reduced significantly. An extreme case is the fact that "the most liberal Republican now remains significantly to the right of the most conservative Democrat". Antagonism and mutual inhibition have become commonplace, "vetocracy"?has defined American?political culture, and a vindictive "if I can't, you can't either"?mentality has grown prevalent.

Politicians in Washington, D.C.?are preoccupied with securing their own partisan interests?and don't care at all about national development. Vetoing makes one identify more strongly with their peers in the same camp, who may?in turn give?them greater?and quicker?support. Consequently the two parties are caught in a vicious circle, addicted to vetoing. Worse still, the?government efficacy is inevitably weakened, law and justice trampled upon, development and progress stalled, and social division widened. In the US today, people are increasingly identifying themselves as a Republican or a Democrat instead of as an American. The negative impacts of identity politics and tribal politics have also spilled over into other sectors of American society, further exacerbating "vetocracy".

According to a Pew Research Center report in October 2021?based on a survey of 17 advanced economies (including the US, Germany and the Republic of Korea), the US?is more?politically divided than the other?economies surveyed. Nine?in?ten US respondents believe there are conflicts between people who support different political parties, and nearly 60% of Americans surveyed?think?their?fellow citizens no longer disagree simply over policies, but also over basic facts.

Jungkun Seo, Professor of Political Science?at Kyung Hee University, observes that as?political polarization?intensifies?in the US, the self-cleaning process of American democracy, which?aims to drive?reform through elections, will no longer?be able to function?properly. With the?Senate trapped?in a?filibuster, the US Congress no longer serves as a representative body for addressing changes?in American society through?legislation.