Some people have criticised that I've compared the US election with that in Turkmenistan: let me explain. The OSCE has 57 participating member-states, among them some vile tyrannies. Turkmenistan is probably the worst, which is why I use it for benchmarking.
If you were to take key indicators of democratic elections - from campaign and media environment to campaign finance to voter enfranchisement to election administration, you will see that the US doesn't do too well in these categories. I'd say it's in the bottom 50 percent.
Of course, there are many others that are much worse. Central Asia, Russia, and Belarus are examples. There are others that are much, much better. Having observed elections in Mongolia, I'd say Mongolia is way better across all indicators. Much of Western Europe is way better.
Put it this way: if the US applied to the Harvard of democracies, where the admission rate is 5%, its application would not be seriously considered.
Okay, it might get in on the athletic scholarship.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
