The threats to the longevity of democracy in the United States keep growing. Last week’s ruling by the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, which for five decades guaranteed the right to abortion, has put the spotlight on that once-revered institution, which is now steadily losing credibility in the eyes of the U.S. public and adding instability to a system in crisis.
The ruling came in the midst of dramatic public hearings by a select congressional committee investigating the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The hearings are presenting mountains of evidence indicating that former U.S. President Donald Trump was directly involved in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. On the day of the attack, the insurrectionists appear to have taken their cues directly from Trump, seeking to prevent the now-President Joe Biden from taking office by blocking the certification of the election results by Congress. The chronology and details of events revealed by the committee look very much like an attempted coup.
The timing of these developments exposes what is so dangerous about this moment in U.S. history: None of them are occurring in isolation. All three branches of the U.S. government are now perilously unsteady. It is conceivable that the three-legged stool of America’s democratic system of government could break.