The USA: The 2020 Election in the Context of a Systemic Internal Political Crisis

The article aims to identify and analyze the manifestations of the crisis in the American political system in the context of the 2020 presidential election and the political situation that preceded it. To achieve this aim, the author uses systemic, institutional, and comparative methods of analysis, as well as political analysis itself. The 2020 US presidential election became one of the most striking resonant events in world politics, accentuating the presence of a serious and deep crisis in the American political and electoral systems. The polarization of society and the electorate, the growing distrust of citizens in the electoral mechanisms and in the political class of the country were, among other things, a consequence of the tough and contrasting campaign carried out by the two main candidates for the presidency. The BLM movement and the mobilization of supporters of left-liberal values, on the one hand, and the phenomenon of Trump's populism, coupled with two attempts to impeach and seize the Capitol by his supporters at the very end of his presidential term, on the other, became a confirmation of the deep division of American society and politics. Ultimately, the crisis of the US political system includes a number of more specific crises: (1) The crisis of American citizens' confidence in the political system as a whole, because within the framework of the “agenda” formulated by politicians, the tasks of the country's long-term development in the interests of the majority of its citizens are not set and not solved. (2) The crisis of confidence in the political establishment as a whole, which is turning into a kind of a “political corporation” that systematically reproduces itself, and is less and less responsive to the real needs of voters and citizens. (3) The crisis of political parties, which are often unable to effectively control the electorate and consolidate society in a situation of emerging challenges and a demand for change. (4) The crisis of party platforms and ideologies: a significant part of American society lacks trust in them, and the programmatic and ideological differences between the two main parties are no longer so obvious, which disorients the electorate and creates additional space for the activities of political populists and radicals of various kinds. (5) The crisis of the electoral mechanism, connected with the fact that it does not ensure the representation of the interests of various strata of society, is considered as archaic and imperfect by professional politicians and voters. (6) The crisis of unity in values and ideology in American society. (7) The crisis of the institution of elections: voters regularly distrust the reliability of election results, which casts doubt on the legitimacy of the electoral institutions. Thus, in the case of the United States, during the 2020 presidential campaign, there was a combination (overlap) of crises of legitimacy, trust, and manageability on the scale of the national political system, which confirmed the existence of a complex crisis of the latter.

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