Flagrant Actions, Damaged Alliances and Harsh Sentences - Weakening Democracies

Flagrant actions by administrations in the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Turkey, Spain and elsewhere are contributing to the weakening of democracy as it has evolved as a trusted political system.

Blatant acts by the Donald Trump administration in dealing with immigration issues, to inaction on gun control, to disregard to Congressional investigation directives, to the conferring of foreign aid, to apparent unethical doings, to fights and broken protections with allies, to a trade war with China, to threats to ruin the economy of an ally along with a host of other actions, including the rantings from the chief executive, all underscore a weakening of the American democracy and Republic as it has traditionally been known.

In the UK, Boris Johnson's illegal suspension of Parliament to secure his version of a Brexit plan will be written into history as yet another example of the recent weakening of the democratic process.

Turkey's deadly exploits into Kurdish held areas of northern Syria must be chronicled as the undermining of any democratic process.

And the harsh prison sentences totaling as much as 30-years, meted out by the Spanish court to Catalan leaders for successfully offering a democratic medium - a referendum, to Catalans, is yet another clear affirmation of the weakening of western democracies.

Democracy, though it remains a viable and appealing political system, is not the same as five-years-ago. Could it regain its splendor? Sure! But it will take regime and attitudinal changes over time to repair its deepening scars.