How Biden can restore U.S. credibility at this week’s Democracy Summit

If President Joe Biden welcomes more than 100 countries to his “Democracy Summit” this Thursday and Friday, he will most likely label America as a global champion of democracy. But fewer and fewer people in the world today believe that this is true.

William Felice [ UNKNOWN | Photo: Courtesy ]

A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that once positive impressions of American democracy have rapidly declined. Only 17 percent of people in the surveyed countries said US democracy was worth emulating and 23 percent said it had never set a good example. These perceptions have been shaped by our domestic political problems such as mass shootings, polarization and racial injustice. But basically, the violent riots of January 6 to prevent a peaceful transfer of power, combined with the restrictions on voting rights in states across the country, made it impossible for millions of people around the world to view the US as a democratic model.

True democracy, however, is not just defined by the right to vote. A legitimate democratic state also protects the basic human rights of all citizens. And here the Biden administration has made progress.

President Biden has distracted the US from Donald Trump’s well-documented destructive human rights policies. Under President Trump, migrant children were torn from their parents, white racists were empowered, systemic racism in the police force was ignored, legal protections for LGBTQ + people were lifted and hatred against racial, ethnic and religious minorities blossomed.

Furthermore, democracy itself was sabotaged when Trump refused to admit defeat and propagated the “big lie” that his election was “stolen”. On a global scale, the Trump administration joined forces with dictators and autocrats who abused their people’s human rights, resigned from the UN Human Rights Council, and withdrew from major international initiatives to defend human rights and advance international justice. As a result, the moral standing of the United States and the credibility of human rights on the world stage suffered tremendously under Trump.

The Biden government rejected many of these actions and proclaimed a return to human rights as a central political guide. Foreign Minister Antony Blinken reiterated that human rights are “universal” and “equal”, with no hierarchy between the rights. This was a direct response to the Trump administration’s Inalienable Rights Commission, which identified freedom of religion as the primary human right. The prioritization of religious freedom over other rights resulted in the discrimination against LGBTQ + communities and others being sanctioned. The Biden administration disbanded this advisory committee, stating that its work “does not constitute a guiding document for this government”.

Under Biden, the US regained its seat on the UN Human Rights Council, revived its membership in the World Health Organization, re-acceded to the Paris Agreement and restored funding to key UN agencies, including the United Nations Population Fund, a leading provider of maternal products Health and family planning services.

In addition, while Biden continued to object to certain measures taken by the International Criminal Court, he overturned Trump’s vengeful executive order, which approved sanctions against high-ranking officials in the Global Criminal Court. While re-engaging with the global community on human rights issues, Blinken stated that the US’s first obligation is to protect human rights violations at home, citing the “consequences of systemic racism and economic injustice” in America against black people and discrimination and Violence against women and girls, religious minorities, people with disabilities and the LGBTQ + community.

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However, for the US to legitimately claim to be a leader in the global fight for democracy and human rights, the government must do more. The US and China have a dubious reputation for being among the world’s leading laggards in the ratification of international human rights treaties. The US continues to refuse to ratify the General Treaties for the Protection of Children, Women, Migrant Workers, People with Disabilities and Victims of Enforced Disappearance. This poor ratification record makes the United States appear hypocritical when the government advises other states such as Venezuela, Iran, Russia and Saudi Arabia on human rights issues.

Biden’s Democracy Summit offers the United States a unique opportunity to strengthen our record on human rights and democracy. The government should announce at the summit its intention to end the Senate filibuster in order to get Congress to approve both the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. These two laws would set nationwide standards to protect the right to vote and prevent anti-democratic laws from state legislators.

In addition, the government should announce plans to give priority to the ratification of key human rights treaties, starting with the legal instruments protecting women’s and children’s rights. Such actions would align the US with global efforts to protect human rights and democracy and restore our nation’s tarnished reputation in the eyes of the world.

William F. Felice is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Eckerd College. He is the author of six books on human rights and international relations. He can be reached on his website williamfelice.com.

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2021/12/06/how-biden-can-restore-us-credibility-at-this-weeks-democracy-summit-column/