Illiberal Democracy: The Toxic Mix Of Fake News

Illiberal Democracy: The Toxic Mix Of Fake News, Hyperpolarization,And Partisan Election Administration

The 2016 presidential election shook American democracy to its foundations. In an unprecedented development, the CIA and FBI concluded that the Russian government hacked and leaked Democratic Party emails in an effort to help Donald Trump win the election.1 Trump himself fueled further controversy during the campaign when he alleged that the Democrats had rigged the election against him and predicted that massive voter fraud would occur on Election Day.2 Still more controversy came in the days after the election when Jill Stein, the defeated Green Party candidate for president, demanded a recount, suggesting without evidence that Russia may have hacked voting machines on Trump’s behalf.3 Most remarkable of all, President-elect Trump responded to his Electoral College victory by claiming without evidence that he lost the popular vote because of millions of illegal votes cast for his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

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