“The largest democracy in the world”?

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By OSNAN SILVA DE SOUZA*

We are in the presence of a democracy in which the way black people are treated serves as an inspiration and model for Hitlerism.

“In my opinion, the American republic will not celebrate another centennial. At least, not under the present Constitution and laws. Universal suffrage is the foundation of every evil in this country (…). Universal suffrage is a constant element of weakness, and exposes us to many dangers which might otherwise be avoided” (Woodrow Wilson, 1876).

1.

During the UOL News, on January 22, 2025, a story was shown in which, with a curious tone, it was revealed that the Minister of the Supreme Federal Court, Alexandre de Moraes, decorates his office with copies of the US Constitution. The images show framed replicas of historical documents of the United States, such as the Declaration of Independence.

The subject comes up in the midst of discussions about Donald Trump's inauguration and the measures already adopted by the new representative of the empire. The program's host, Raquel Landim, narrated the case with great enthusiasm: "It's interesting. American democracy is symbolic for the world."

Next, columnist Tales Faria – notably progressive and critical of the far right –, in agreement with Raquel Landim, observes that Donald Trump would be going against the democratic, liberal and constitutional principles of his nation: “Donald Trump is not only an autocrat personally, he is a candidate for dictator in the oldest democracy in the world (…). He is putting at risk the basis of democratic thought in the world”. For Tales Faria, the most eloquent point of the US Constitution is what says: “all men are created equal and are endowed with certain inalienable rights”.[I] The new president would be trying to break with this principle.

There is a certain praise for the American constitution and democracy, as can be seen in the way the Supreme Court Justice organizes his office, in the presenter's enthusiasm and in Tales Faria's analyses. The US political system is presented as the basis of democracy not only in the West, but in the world! It is a symbolic example. Not only that: the leader of the extreme right and new head of the Executive is seen as an abrupt mutation, a kind of anomaly or an outlier in the history of that country's presidents. However, we know that historical issues are more complex.

2.

In this sense, the studies carried out by Domenico Losurdo can be useful for us to understand this issue a little better. As we know, the Italian philosopher dedicated himself to meticulously and in-depth research into the history of liberalism and universal suffrage in the West (especially France, England and the USA), breaking with myths, linear perspectives and cause and effect. By delving into dense documentation and dialoguing with authors of various stripes, Domenico Losurdo allows us to learn a little more about “the largest (and now the most basic and oldest, in the words of Tales Faria) democracy in the world”.

In the preface to the Brazilian edition of Democracy or Bonapartism: the triumph and decline of universal suffrage, Domenico Losurdo denounces a myth constructed and disseminated by the dominant language: in the West, under the leadership of the USA, liberalism would have, in a gradual, progressive and linear way, transformed into democracy – “an increasingly broad and rich democracy”.[ii] The idea of ​​harmony between the free capitalist market and democracy would also be part of this myth.

This is, in fact, a dominant myth in our days, but one that can already be seen in Alexis de Tocqueville, for whom “the United States constitutes the only true model of democracy”, while at the same time “describing with lucidity and without indulgence the treatment given to redskins and blacks” in that country.[iii]

Domenico Losurdo demonstrates that the narrative that presents the United States as the bastion of Western democracy – a democracy that emerged from the liberal tradition – ignores the oppression that befalls indigenous and black populations, even after the end of slavery. It also disregards the struggles for emancipation, rights and access to citizenship by those excluded. In fact, we are faced with an argument that does not hold up to historical investigation. It has even been said that during the 20th century the United States did not configure itself as a democracy, in the sense of effective suffrage.

The Italian philosopher writes: “Let us leave aside the redskins, or rather the survivors: in theory, they began to enjoy political rights in 1887; but in reality, through vicissitudes in one direction or another, they only saw their status as American citizens recognized by Congress in 1924 and, in any case, states such as New Mexico and Arizona denied them the right to vote until 1948. Regarding another racial minority, even in the post-war period we see the ruling classes in the South condemning attempts to abolish the poli tax and to impose voter registration on blacks, “without regard to their intelligence and ability”, as a criminal attack on the best “Anglo-Saxon heritage”, as an attempt to reduce authentic Americans “to the level of a bastard and inferior race”.[iv]

But it is not only blacks and indigenous people who see obstacles in their path to enjoying full citizenship or even effective suffrage in the United States in the 1970th century: these individuals are joined by poor whites, who suffered from census restrictions at least until the 1966s: “The Supreme Court rulings that declared the unconstitutionality of the rules that impose, as a prerequisite for being recognized as a voter, a certain level of literacy and payment of the poll tax date back to 1972; while the ruling that declared the unconstitutionality of the rule, at that time still in force in Texas, which subordinates the eligibility requirement to the payment of a sum proportional to the importance of the office for which one intends to run for office dates back to XNUMX.”[v]

The racial issue is prominent in the works of Domenico Losurdo, especially when it comes to reflecting on capitalism, liberalism and democracy. The eminent philosopher demonstrates that it is impossible to critically and meticulously read the major phenomena that have occurred throughout history in the West without bringing to the center of the discussions the role played by black people.

In this sense, in Counter-history of liberalism we are led to realize that, in the liberal tradition, the most enthusiastic defenders of freedom were those who not only staunchly opposed the end of slavery, but also conceived of it as a “positive good”. Let us see: “in the American Revolution, Virginia played a prominent role: here there were 40% of the country’s slaves, but from here came the largest number of protagonists of the revolt that exploded in the name of freedom”.[vi]

Not only that. It is significant to consider that: “For 32 years of the first 36 years of the United States, the presidents were slave owners from Virginia. It was this colony or state, founded on slavery, that provided the country with its most illustrious statesmen; just to remind us: George Washington, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson – authors, respectively, of the Declaration of Independence and the Federal Constitution of 1787 –, all three slave owners.”[vii]

3.

It is not a question of pointing an accusatory finger at the past, but rather of trying to ignore the relevance of the historical events that took place in the United States at the end of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century. Domenico Losurdo's analyses, however, draw attention to the uncritical movement, based on the myth propagated by the dominant language, which extols the American system as the bastion of Western democracy.

When presenting the USA as “the largest, most symbolic and oldest in the world”, what is absent is History: the weight that black slavery (and the extermination of the “redskins”) exerts on the country as a whole is not negligible: “in the first presidential elections, between 1788 and 1848, all but four put a slave owner from the South in the White House”.[viii]

That's not all: in The United States and the Political-Cultural Roots of Nazism, Domenico Losurdo examined how the Racial State and the white supremacy Americans – with their program of reaffirming racial hierarchies, closely linked to a eugenics project – exerted a strong influence on Germany, the ideologists of the Third Reich and Hitler himself: “The construction of a racial state is a central element of Nazi propaganda. So, what were the possible models of a racial state at that time? The segregationist legislation in South Africa was largely inspired by the regime of white supremacy, implemented in the Southern US after the end of Reconstruction. Only one model is in action and its influence on Nazism cannot be ignored.”[ix]

We are in the presence of a democracy in which the way blacks are treated serves as an inspiration and model for Hitlerism. Indeed, it is a certain naivety or ignorance (if not downright impudence!) to praise as the “greatest democracy in the world”, a symbol of the West or the oldest democracy in the world a country, as Domenico Losurdo shows us, which for a long time was a racial state with a regime of white supremacy.

With Donald Trump’s return to power, we have witnessed emotional tears and praise from the Brazilian far right, especially from its great leaders, who see the new representative of the empire as a beacon for Brazil and the world. In this sense, the United States is seen not only as the guiding nation of the liberal and democratic West, but now also as the guide for those with notable inclinations towards fascism (as we have just seen, something that has precedent in its history).

Faced with such a challenge, it would be irresponsible and hesitant to simply view the current US administration as “the same thing” as the previous one(s). Even more dangerous, however, is the movement to conceive of Trumpism as a phenomenon anomalous to Americanism; a corruption of the healthy and progressive history of American democracy; or to view Donald Trump as a corruption of the linearity of American presidents.

*Osnan Silva de Souza is a PhD student in history at Unicamp.

Notes


[I] UOL News. Erika Hilton x Nikolas, former PRF indicted for trying to prevent votes, Trump government and more. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNLcm4AH8iQ. (Between minutes 1:24:00 – 1:34:20).

[ii] Domenico Losurdo. Democracy or Bonapartism: the triumph and decline of suffrage. UFRJ Publishing House/ UNESP Publishing House, 2004, p. 9.

[iii] Op. Cit., p. 29.

[iv] Op. cit., P. 52.

[v] Ibid.

[vi] Domenico Losurdo. Counter-history of liberalism. New York: Routledge, 2020, p.

[vii] Op. cit.

[viii] Op. cit., P. 28.

[ix] Domenico Losurdo. The United States and the political-cultural roots of Nazism In: Jones Manoel (org). Colonialism and Anticolonial Struggle. Challenges of the Revolution in the 21st Century. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021, p.


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