U.S. House Speaker debacle latest symptom of decaying democracy in North America

It didn't used to be unusual to see political rivals sharing a human interaction or a drink from time to time—now it's front-page news.

U.S. Republican Representative for California Kevin McCarthy, pictured on Jan. 5, 2023, is applauded by his colleagues after the ninth vote for Speaker of the House, in which no one garnered a majority of the votes. He was finally elected early on Saturday morning, Jan. 7, the U.S. House Speaker in a historic post-midnight 15th ballot. Screenshot courtesy of C-SPAN

Opinion

BY MICHAEL HARRIS

January 9, 2023

HALIFAX—You don’t have to be a political junkie to realize that democracy is in peril these days.

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