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25 January 2010
About This Issue
The 1960 presidential election was among the most closely fought in U.S. history. So close that supporters of Vice President Richard M. Nixon urged him to challenge the results. Nixon declined. “Even if we were to win in the end,” he explained, “the cost in world opinion and the effect on democracy in the broadest sense would be detrimental.”
Nixon instead performed his duty as vice president, and officially reported to the Senate the election of John F. Kennedy. “This is the first time in 100 years,” he began, that a candidate for the presidency announced the result of an election in which he was defeated and announced the victory of his opponent. I do not think we could have a more striking example of the stability of our constitutional system and of the proud tradition of the American people of developing, respecting and honoring institutions of self-government. In our campaigns, no matter how hard-fought they may be, no matter how close the election may turn out to be, those who lose accept the verdict and support those who win.”
Nixon’s critics saw in his words the opening shot of a future campaign. Why they might view a gracious concession as politically shrewd is the subject of this eJournal USA.
This month we explore how democracies transfer power in accord with the will of the people, expressed through free and fair elections. In the two decades since the Cold War ended, many nations have held elections, but not all are genuine democracies. Sometimes elections are rigged, incumbents enjoy unfair advantages, or — with military support — they overturn the results. But in healthy democracies, as Nixon and his critics understood, citizens expect that elections will be fair and insist that the results be respected, beginning with a peaceful transition of power from one leader to the next.
Our contributors link peaceful transitions to a vibrant civil society. These voluntary civic and social organizations, they argue, engage and inform citizens, and instill a shared expectation that democracy is legitimate and undemocratic action is not. The essays gathered here explore transitions of power in the United States and other nations. We also examine a 21st-century development: how new social media technologies can strengthen civil society and thus bolster democracy.
A number of contributors point out that democracies are stable because election losers know that no victory is permanent, that winners cannot change the rules of future contests, and that losers can compete and win another day. Among those competitors was Richard M. Nixon, elected in 1968 the 37th president of the United States.
— The Editors
