America 'catches up' with Third World democracies

Demonstrators gather to protest a day after President-elect Donald Trump's victory, at a rally outside Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles, California, on November 9, 2016. Protesters burned a giant orange-haired head of Donald Trump in effigy, lit fires in the streets and blocked traffic lanes late on November 9 as rage over the billionaire's election victory spilled onto the streets of US cities. From New York to Los Angeles, thousands of people in around 10 cities rallied against the president-elect a day after his stunning win, some carrying signs declaiming "Not our President" and "Love trumps hate." / AFP PHOTO/

The just-concluded American poll and its aftermath has completely shattered the unspoken myth that certain conduct is exclusively the preserve of Third World and emergent democracies.

Post-election violence, the use of foul language by politicians, taking advantage of divisions, intolerance to rival groups, aversion to defeat and pollsters-influence on elections have all been seen as idiosyncratic variables of Third World democracies - until Donald J Trump faced Hillary Clinton.

Conversely, the respect for the will of the people, tolerance of rival supporters, emphasis on issues-based campaigns, decorum in politics and use of science-based predictions have long been associated with America, a country that has experimented with democracy for centuries.

But yesterday’s images of thousands of enraged American citizens flooding the streets in protest to a largely credible electoral outcome - one in which the rival conceded before they were called - contradicted the very idea of democracy.

unequivocal refusal

The weeping and wailing at a White House night vigil on Wednesday night was a scene straight out of an African post-election moment, when people who peg all their hopes on an individual candidate are deflated by electoral outcomes.

Trump’s advance and unequivocal refusal to accept results unless he won was typical of Third World democracy candidates and their aversion to defeat. His preoccupation with epithets against Clinton at the expense of issues too!

Third World democracies’ propensity to reward the crude at the expense of the sane or to extol vice in place of virtues showed itself clearly in the American election.

For some people, the choice between Trump and Clinton was a more or less like the biblical choice between the Messiah and Barabbas the common thief. The crowds settled for the common thief and condemned their ultimate saviour to die on the cross.

AGAINST GREAT ODDS

This presumption that the Barabbas narrative is the preserve of Third World countries has been shattered by the triumphal entry of Trump into the White House against great odds.

Closely related to this is the Americans’ unbridled obsession with values in governance and its processes. Many Third World democracies - including Kenya - have blamed America for attempting to interfere with electoral choices on exterior considerations.

Perhaps the greatest similarity between the conduct of the American polls and Third World democracy polls is the tendency to ignore the undercurrents driving the electorate whose end result turns out to be “democratic accidents” in the eyes of the establishment.