Democracy in the United States is “strong, but showing some cracks”. That is the conclusion of a survey of 1,571 political scientists.
Almost all said that the United States performed well on some of the most important measures of democracy: free and fair elections, freedom of speech and judicial limits on executive power. But fewer than two-thirds said other important standards of democracy were being met: no interference with the press and respect for judicial independence by elected branches of government. And a minority said the United States was succeeding at equal rights or basic behavioral norms of civil discourse.
Researchers who study how democracies have formed and fallen apart in other parts of the world have said that democracies often erode slowly, and identified various unwritten rules that get broken, like fair play or an acceptance that the opposition will sometimes win. Examples are giving nominees a confirmation hearing, or graciously accepting election results.