election 2004: all articles

The way leftists – and openDemocracy writers – stereotype their political opponents in the American election reveals a thought–denying prejudice, says Roger Scruton.

The people are right – even when they’re wrong. That’s democracy. Why don’t leftists get it?

In the New York subway, Mariano Aguirre sees into the divided, lonely heart of America – but glimpses fertile seeds in the post-election landscape.

November 2004 represents a decisive moment in global as well as American politics that demands an urgent response from concerned citizens everywhere, says Fred Halliday.

A diary of election-year conversations with Democratic voters in the Republican stronghold of Indiana provoke Jason Vest to savage illumination of the consoling myths, false trails and self-deceits of a failed campaign.

The Bush vs Kerry election inquest has been at its liveliest in openDemocracy’s forums. Dominic Hilton presents the highlights.

What does George W Bush's re-election mean for America and the world? openDemocracy writers look ahead.

As the last votes of the United States election are counted, openDemocracy writers worldwide give their personal reactions to the result.

The United States’s post-9/11 foreign policy will have a long-term, positive effect on middle-east politics, Lebanese banker Karim Souaid tells openDemocracy editor Anthony Barnett.

It’s one of the world’s biggest news stories in 2004, but the issues are not the same in China as they are in Iran. Do journalists even care in Nepal? openDemocracy’s world media monitor looks at the national media coverage of the United States presidential election in nine different countries.

The Iraq war opened a fratricidal split among United States neo–conservatives. Danny Postel examines the bitter dispute between two leading neocons, Francis Fukuyama and Charles Krauthammer, and suggests that Fukuyama’s critique of the Iraq war and decision not to vote for George W Bush is a significant political as well as intellectual moment.

Should bunker-busting nuclear weapons be part of United States national security strategy? Charles V Peña on a hidden faultline in the presidential race.

Justine Isola reached voting age two weeks before the American presidential election in 2000. At Yale University four years on, she listens to the views of her fellow-students and reflects on the meaning of her participation in the democratic process.

Liberal Democrats like John Kerry share the same religion as conservative Republicans like George W Bush: a belief in America’s moral exceptionalism. But the scale of the American and world challenge facing any new president makes their contest far more than a choice of evils, says Godfrey Hodgson.

The importance of the United States election on 2 November is so great that all considerations except one – defeating Bush - need to be set aside, John Berger tells openDemocracy editor Anthony Barnett.

The United States experienced real democracy only from 1965-2000, from the civil rights era to the post-Florida judicial coup, says Siva Vaidhyanathan. Whatever the result on 2 November, American citizens need to seize the responsibility of remaking it.

With just over a week to go before the presidential election, the paramedia decibels are soaring and the mobilisation intensifying. Todd Gitlin on the curious convulsions and fabulous flavours of this crucial campaign.

Leading economics and business professors from the Harvard Business School have sent an open letter to President Bush criticising his economic policies. The initiative’s co-organiser, Louis Wells, talks to openDemocracy’s Caspar Henderson about its origin and purpose.

For four years, President Bush has been shielded from the public and protected from contrary opinion. The three crucial TV presidential debates have revealed the true man. Advantage John Kerry.

What is it like to work in the Washington political establishment at election time – especially when so much is at stake? John Hulsman has the insider’s story.