Opinion | Lessons from the French and British elections for bolstering U.S. democracy
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The British general election resulted in a landslide victory for the Labour Party, while the French legislative election saw the far-right National Rally plummet to third place. The need for the center left and center right to work together to thwart extremists is highlighted, as seen in France where the New Popular Front and President Emmanuel Macron's party withdrew third-place candidates in more than 200 constituencies. The lack of a similar tradition in the United States is concerning, as the Trumpist wing of the GOP has supported an insurrection and promises to undermine democracy. The potential appeal of centrism and competence as political antidotes to populism is demonstrated by the success of Keir Starmer in the UK. The power of an anti-incumbent message is emphasized, as seen in the recent elections in India and South Africa. Dissatisfaction with democracy is on the rise, with a Pew Research Center poll finding that 64% of respondents in high-income countries were dissatisfied. The importance of losing candidates gracefully accepting the outcome is highlighted, contrasting the peaceful transition of power in the UK with the refusal of Donald Trump to accept the outcome of the 2020 election.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/07/08/france-britain-elections-united-states/
The Washington Post /
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2024-07-08 20:58:26
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npub1nwad78hejfewj63p264uf2sxh0a5az753pw7auscrlupefjtr27sp97m8hPublished at
2024-07-08 20:58:26Event JSON
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"content": "Opinion | Lessons from the French and British elections for bolstering U.S. democracy\n==========\n\nThe British general election resulted in a landslide victory for the Labour Party, while the French legislative election saw the far-right National Rally plummet to third place. The need for the center left and center right to work together to thwart extremists is highlighted, as seen in France where the New Popular Front and President Emmanuel Macron's party withdrew third-place candidates in more than 200 constituencies. The lack of a similar tradition in the United States is concerning, as the Trumpist wing of the GOP has supported an insurrection and promises to undermine democracy. The potential appeal of centrism and competence as political antidotes to populism is demonstrated by the success of Keir Starmer in the UK. The power of an anti-incumbent message is emphasized, as seen in the recent elections in India and South Africa. Dissatisfaction with democracy is on the rise, with a Pew Research Center poll finding that 64% of respondents in high-income countries were dissatisfied. The importance of losing candidates gracefully accepting the outcome is highlighted, contrasting the peaceful transition of power in the UK with the refusal of Donald Trump to accept the outcome of the 2020 election.\n\n\n\nhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/07/08/france-britain-elections-united-states/",
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