American Elections 2020: between a difficult dialogue and fear for democracy

The 2020 American elections, won by the Democrat Joe Biden, showed the world how the United States is split into two opposing visions - both widely supported among the population - that perhaps never as before struggle with communication and with finding reason. A reason that even the media seem to be unable to provide, leading to a sort of omnipresence of Trump all over the outlets. An absence of dialogue that inevitably generates uncertainties and tensions, as underlined last week by three USI experts who spoke to the Ticino press, and not only, to help us read the situation: Maurizio Viroli, in Corriere del Ticino, Vittorio Emanuele Parsi, on RSI, and Stephan Russ-Mohl in the discussion forum of the European Journalism Observatory.

Professor of Political Communication at USI Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society, Professor Emeritus of Politics at Princeton University, and Professor of Government at the University of Texas, Maurizio Viroli wrote a column in Corriere del Ticino (see article here) on the political communication choices of incumbent President Donald Trump. On the one hand, Viroli observes how Trump has been more "effective" than his opponent in responding to the expectations of his supporters, on the other hand, he has made some statements that, in Viroli's opinion, endanger the country's "institutional stability" itself, in particular by declaring himself as the winner while votes were still being counted and for his stand on the postal ballots. To state that votes by post should not be counted is, according to the professor, "one of the most serious statements that can be uttered in the United States of America".

In a context where communication continues to be difficult, Prof. Viroli also points out a delay in the reaction of the Democratic candidate Joe Biden, who should have focused first on Obama-style rhetoric focusing on the "need to unite America".

Incommunicability and a difficult dialogue between the parties on the one hand and a possible escalation of "radicalisation" on the other: this is one of the possible scenarios suggested by Vittorio Emanuele Parsi, lecturer of economics and international politics at USI and full professor of international relations at Università Cattolica Milano. In his interview with RSI (watch the interview here) he predicts an increase in "radicalisation, which was already present during the election campaign" which would lead to "questioning the fairness of the system which never happened in the recent history of the United States".

Extending the look at the international level, according to Parsi, the internal rift within the United States and the uncertainty regarding the outcome of the presidential vote could have significant consequences. Trump's victory "would make relations with Europe even more complicated and would increase the existing gap on the relations between China and the US". On the opposite front, Biden's victory "would not be a complete problem solver, but it would put less strain on an international system that sees the United States growing apart from others". Both scenarios would, therefore oscillate between a more immediate crisis and a need for change in the long term.

On the other hand, Stephan Russ-Mohl, Full Professor of Journalism and Media Management at USI until 2019 and Director of the European Journalism Observatory, expresses his views on the impact that the election campaign has had on the media. In his speech held during the discussion forum of the European Journalism Observatory (see article here), Russ-Mohl underlines Trump's omnipresence in the media and how journalists have helped the President achieve this status by spreading his "absurd tweets", albeit with mocking intent, thus guaranteeing him constant and free visibility.