American-style electoral democracy loses popular support: report

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Midterm elections have become the most expensive ones in the United States, and American-style democracy has lost its popular support, said a report released by China's State Council Information Office on Tuesday.

Political donations have made American elections a game for the rich, alienation of two-party politics has turned into polarized politics, and American democracy is losing its foundation in public support, according to the report.

Money in U.S. elections has set a new record. The total cost of the 2022 state and federal midterm elections was nearly 17 billion U.S. dollars, the most expensive election in history, the report quoted an analysis published by OpenSecrets as saying.

Political donations create an oligarchy. Billionaires made up 15 percent of all federal political itemized donations from Jan. 1, 2021, to Sept. 30, 2022, up from 11 percent in the 2020 election cycle, it quoted a report from Reuters as saying.

"Dark money" donations furtively manipulate U.S. elections, and political polarization and social fragmentation make it difficult for the country to reach a democratic consensus, the report also said.

Public confidence in American democracy continues to decline. American scholars Thomas R. Dye, Harmon Zeigler and Louis Schubert pointed out in their book "The Irony of Democracy: An Uncommon Introduction to American Politics" that few Americans today still believe that the government is run for the benefit of the people. Most see the political system as dominated by a few big interests for their own benefit, leaving the average person behind, the book added.