Thread by @RyanJSuto

To expand on this line of thinking, 2010 - 2020 should be remembered as a time of democratic retreat in the US. #DecadeinReview thread 👇🏽

https://twitter.com/RyanJSuto/status/1212177795322957827

Liberal democracy the US arguably began in 1965 with the Voting Rights Act. It was the first time in the US when all non-felony convicted adult men & women had an enforced right to vote. vox.com/2015/3/6/81632…

That kicked-off an imperfect era (washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/1…) where Americans generally increasingly gained real access to the ballot.

But January 2010 marked the beginning of reversal. In January of that year, the Citizens' United v. FEC SCOTUS decision allowed unlimited money to support electoral campaigns
salon.com/2019/12/29/the…

And since 2010, white nationalists have reacted against the election of President Obama by attempting to restrict the right to vote for minority communities.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

In fact, "Since 2010, 25 states have enacted new voting restrictions, including strict photo ID requirements, early voting cutbacks, and registration restrictions."
brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…

Aiding this effort, in 2013 SCOTUS handed down a decision in Shelby County v. Holder which gutted the very Voting Rights Act that ushered in full American democracy.
salon.com/2019/12/30/the…

And perhaps sealing the deal on the decade, in 2019 SCOTUS decided to take the federal judiciary completely out of the business of reviewing electoral maps for political chicanery.
aaiusa.org/what_do_scotus…

Now, states under single-party control after 2020 elex will effectively be able to freeze partisan control by drawing gerrymanders to preclude any realistic possibility of future losses (unless state law prohibits).

Currently, 36 of 50 states are under single-party control.

Predictably, voter purges are increasing ahead of the 2020 elections
theguardian.com/us-news/2019/d…

For example, earlier this month 309,000 voters allowed purged in Georgia:
ajc.com/news/state--re…

and 234,000 were ordered purged in Wisconsin:
usatoday.com/story/news/nat…

So, as we move into a new decade, as @Yascha_Mounk wrote, "The United States is now at an inflection point of its own... Only by embarking on bold and imaginative reform can we recover a democracy worthy of the name."
theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

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