U.S. human rights situation in 2021: Politicians play games in sham democracy, trample on people’s political rights

One year into his presidency, U.S. President Joe Biden’s approval rating continues to slide. The American people have found that Biden hardly delivered on any of his commitments after being elected. (Cartoon by Lu Lingxing)

In 2021, the human rights situation in the U.S., a country that already has a notorious record, worsened. On Feb. 28, 2022, China issued its “The Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2021.”

According to the report, American-style democracy has descended into becoming nothing more than a sad game of shuffling between this or that set of interests. Political donations bring about transfers of interests after elections, political polarization further intensifies antagonisms and divisions in U.S. society, and legislation and gerrymander restricting voting eligibility have become tools for parties to suppress public opinion. The operation of the U.S. political system is moving away from the public will and social demands, the right of the majority of the public to participate in politics is essentially being deprived, and international confidence in the U.S. democratic system continues to decline.

More than 420 bills with provisions that restrict voting access have been introduced in 49 U.S. states. Only 7 percent of young Americans view the country as a “healthy democracy,” while public trust in the government has fallen to historical lows not seen since 1958.

On Jan. 6, 2021, hundreds of protesters set out to storm the Capitol Hill in the U.S. Capital, Washington, D.C., in an attempt to disrupt the results of the 2020 presidential election. It’s generally believed that the U.S. Capitol riots marked the ruination of the “myth” behind U.S. democracy. (Cartoon by Lu Lingxing)

In an opinion article published on June 12, 2021, the Washington Post said that in the past few years the world has been horrified by the chaos, dysfunction and insanity of American democracy, which was seen by U.S. allies as an indication of America as a shattered and washed-up has-been. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that what happened on Capitol Hill was “disgraceful.” German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the Capitol riot was “the result of lies and more lies, of divisiveness and contempt for democracy, of hatred and incitement – even from the very highest level.” A research study has revealed that just 14 percent of Germans and fewer than 10 percent of citizens in New Zealand saw American democracy as a desirable model for other countries.

Despite the fact that U.S. democracy has proven to be a complete failure and its global image is now badly damaged, the U.S. government held the so-called "Leaders' Summit for Democracy" in a high-profile effort to politicize democracy and use it as a tool to form cliques and force other countries to take sides, all in an attempt to split the world. The so-called "Leaders' Summit for Democracy" is in essence a summit that has undermined global democracy, having been widely criticized and condemned by the international community.

French political scientist Dominique Moisi said that it is always difficult to preach what one does so badly on one’s own. USA Today, the New York Times, and other American media have also commented that American democracy is "falling apart," suggesting that the U.S. must first address its own failings, and with critics questioning "whether the United States could be an effective advocate for democracy amid problems at home."

The U.S. holds the so-called "Leaders' Summit for Democracy" in December 2021 in an attempt to split the world under the guise of democracy, despite the fact that the country has a notorious record of its own as a democracy. (Cartoon by Lu Lingxing)

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