U.S. democracy not viable form of government in 1st place: report

NEW YORK, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The Economist puts the United States at number 26 in its rating of the state of democracy in many nations, and goes on to label the country a "flawed democracy," which can be borne out by the worrisome string of events happening around July 4, reported the Washington, D.C.-based democracy watchdog Common Cause on Tuesday.

This Independence Day, mass indiscriminate shootings killed hundreds and crippled their loved ones for life; COVID-19's downward trend reversed itself and appears to be on the rise again in many places; and some really bizarre Supreme Court decisions ranked right up there with the worst high court output ever, said the report.

"The Good Ship Democracy has set upon rough seas and there is no safe harbor in sight. Put another way, our country is not going where it needs to go," said the article titled "High Court Blunders &Blinders."

"Many savants of old didn't believe that democracy was a viable form of government in the first place. Some considered it the absolute worst because they thought it would quickly evolve into mob rule and then tyranny," it said.

"Where we get hung up now, and where the courts are leading us rapidly astray, is how to interpret the Constitution the founders wrote. Decisions today are too often written with no sense of the document's context or its wholeness," it added.