Despite our country’s great successes, the U.S. democracy is far from flawless. For example, the President we elect has not always won the popular vote, an indication that everyone’s vote does not count equally.

The Citizens United decision made by the Supreme Court in 2010 allowed wealthy voters to spend millions in support of their favorite presidential candidate. Their contributions gave those wealthy voters special privileges, including DOGE committee membership. DOGE members, none of whom were elected by voters, then went about firing federal employees whom Congress had appointed, or cutting the budgets of those with whom they disagreed. The Citizens United decision is unpopular enough that 22 states have introduced an amendment to overturn it. Unfortunately, they will probably not succeed.

Some European nations are making the appointment of high court justices increasingly bipartisan. Not so in the U.S. Our justices are appointed by the President and his party, and are apt to favor them with their decisions. The three branches of our government (executive, legislative, and judicial) are now so politically connected that they seldom perform the checks and balances our founding fathers intended.

Then there’s gerrymandering. This blatantly unfair practice allows the party in power to set electoral district boundaries. By either “cracking” or “packing” an electoral district with opposing party voters, it allows the party in power to hold a winning majority in all the remaining districts. A 2019 Supreme Court ruling made it impossible to contest gerrymandered districts.

Are our citizens aware of the many ways in which our government does not function as a true democracy where everyone has an equal voice?

- Delmar Lohr, Forreston