U.S. hard to return to relatively peaceful political environment: article

File photo taken on Jan. 6, 2021 shows supporters of then U.S. President Donald Trump gathering in front of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

"The U.S. government will become a sham democracy, with disfavored groups of people increasingly oppressed and potentially brutalized by their government," says Neil H. Buchanan.

NEW YORK, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The threat of escalating political violence has hung over the United States since long before the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at Congress, making it hard for the country to return to a relatively peaceful political environment, said an article on the legal affairs website Verdict Justia last week.

"In any event, although the U.S. remains peaceful enough for day-to-day life to continue in something resembling a normal fashion, we do need to ask whether political violence is going to become more likely as we move forward," said the author of the article, Neil H. Buchanan, an economist and legal scholar.

"The United States might be a 'dead democracy walking,' that is, a country whose constitutional democracy will not survive beyond the next two years," he noted.

"If that is true -- and I am more fearful than ever that it is -- then the long-term outlook is in fact relatively easy to predict: the U.S. government will become a sham democracy (most likely still going through the motions of holding elections, solely to keep up appearances), with disfavored groups of people increasingly oppressed and potentially brutalized by their government," he said.

"In reality, then, democracy was not on the ballot this week (for the midterm elections); but did the outcome change the prospects for short-term political violence?" he added.