Letter of the Day | Democracy’s silent shield: institutional respect

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Recent events in the United States of America, particularly the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down sweeping presidential tariffs, offer an important lesson for all democracies — especially those within the Commonwealth tradition.

The ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States reaffirmed a basic democratic principle: executive power must remain bounded by law and accountable to the legislature. Courts exist not to please presidents, but to protect constitutional order. In that sense, American democracy worked exactly as designed.

Yet, what followed — public denunciations of judges as “unpatriotic”, “disloyal”, and serving foreign interests by President Donald Trump — highlights a deeper challenge now confronting democracies worldwide: the erosion of institutional respect.

Commonwealth countries such as Jamaica inherited not only legal systems from the United Kingdom, but also a governing culture that prized restraint, decorum, and the dignity of public office. Leaders were expected to fight fiercely in Parliament while safeguarding the neutrality of courts, civil service, and law enforcement. That culture acted as an invisible stabiliser — preventing political conflict from becoming institutional warfare.

The real danger for any democracy is not sharp language alone, but when personal grudges evolve into government action. When leaders begin to weaponise state power against critics — through investigations, contracts, regulatory pressure, or public intimidation — democracy shifts from rule of law to rule of personality. History repeatedly shows that this is how free systems quietly decay.

America relies heavily on hard constitutional checks. Commonwealth systems rely on both law and political culture. When either erodes, instability follows. When both erode, democracy is in genuine peril.

Jamaica and other Commonwealth nations should therefore guard fiercely the traditions of institutional dignity we sometimes take for granted. Courts must remain above political vendetta. Oversight bodies must stay neutral. Governments must never treat Opposition as enemies of the state.

Democracy does not require politeness. It requires restraint. It does not require agreement. It requires respect for boundaries.

Because, when personal grudges become government action, democracy is already in danger.

DUDLEY MCLEAN II

Email: dm15094@gmail.com