Chinanews.com, May 26. A few days ago, the "New York Times" published an article by American economist and Nobel laureate in economics, Paul Krugman, stating that "the American democratic experiment is likely to be over." .

The article sharply criticized the phenomenon of serious political polarization in the United States, saying that "cowardly careerists are dominant", and compared the structural differences between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, and focused on criticizing the Republican Party.

　　In the article "Why U.S. Democracy is at Risk", Paul Krugman mentioned the 2020 U.S. election.

After the results of the general election were released, former President Trump has always declared that there was election fraud in the general election and that he was the real winner of the 2020 general election.

The article stated that the anger of Republican voters can be read every day. “Most of them baselessly believe that the 2020 election was stolen, while extremists in Congress insisted that the requirement to wear masks is equivalent to treating Jews. massacre".

　　The article pointed out that although conspiracy theories are nothing new in American life, the difference this time is the acquiescence of the Republican elite.

The "big lie" about the election was promoted from the top down, initially by Trump himself.

"But the important thing is that few well-known Republican politicians are willing to refute his claims, and many people are eager to support them."

　　"Or in other words, the fundamental problem is not the madman, but the careerist", not the madness, but the cowardice.

The article further pointed out that "this cowardice has deep institutional roots."

　　Paul Krugman stated in the article that political scientists have long noticed that the basic structures of the two major political parties in the United States are quite different.

The Democratic Party is a coalition of interest groups-labor unions, environmentalists, LGBT activists, etc.

The Republican Party is the carrier of a cohesive single movement.

"This is often described as an ideological movement."

　　The article stated that professional Democrats must negotiate between the sometimes competing demands of different electoral districts. All Republicans have to do is to follow the party's line.

"For a long time, for those with real policy expertise and real external reputation, the Republican Party is an uncomfortable place. They may find that they are asked to endorse what they know is wrong. "

　　"For those politicians who really care about policy, still have principles, and have individual voters who are independent of the party, the situation may be even worse...the predominance of cowardly careerists is what makes the Republican Party so vulnerable to dictatorship. ." The article pointed out.

　　Paul Krugman also traced back the 2021 U.S. Capitol riots in the article.

On January 6, when the Congress was counting the electoral votes in the presidential election, some Trump supporters violently stormed the Congress and killed at least five people. This shocked American society and Trump was also accused of "seditioning rebellion."

　　The article pointed out: "The vast majority of Republicans in Congress must know that this election was not stolen. Few people really believe that the attack on the Capitol was an anti-fascist organization's operation under the false flag, or just a group of unidentified people. Harmed tourists."

　　At the end of the article, Paul Krugman also pointed out, "The point is that neither the arrogance of the upper echelons nor the anger of the lower echelons can explain why American democracy is at stake."