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Quotes of the MonthAmerican exceptionalism is the recurring character in the nation's narrative. ~Ron Fournier America represents something universal in the human spirit. We lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people - our strength - from every country and every corner of the world. And by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation. While other countries cling to the stale past, here in America we breathe life into dreams. We create the future, and the world follows us into tomorrow. Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we're a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost. This, I believe, is one of the most important sources of America's greatness. It was stated best in a letter I received not long ago. A man wrote me and said: “You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.'' ~Ronald Reagan Everyday around the world, Americans are born. They just haven't come home yet. ~Judge David E. Jones There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America. ~Bill Clinton In the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it. ~Barack Obama There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America. ~Otto Von Bismarck That America is an exceptional nation is unclear only to one who has not been taught its true history. It ceases to be exceptional only when its representative leaders cease to be exceptional. America, it has been said, is a nation of laws, not of men. The more it becomes a nation of men, the less it remains America. ~Ron Brackin
News of the MonthThe notion that the US is unique and superior and has a special destiny among nations has long been an article of faith in American political culture. American exceptionalism is the idea that the US is unique and distinctive from other nations, often with the belief that it is destined to play a special role on the world stage. The term American exceptionalism is often traced back to the writings of French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville, who observed and wrote about the unique characteristics of American society in the 19th century. The concept is rooted in the belief that the nation's founding principles, political system and historical development are unparalleled. It often implies a sense of moral superiority and a belief in the universal application of American values. Proponents argue that the American Revolution, the nation's founding and its subsequent development have created a unique and exemplary society. American exceptionalism often emphasizes values like liberty, democracy and individual rights, suggesting they are more fully realized in the US than elsewhere. The concept frequently implies a sense of mission to spread these values and principles to the rest of the world. Some interpretations of American exceptionalism suggest that the US is morally superior to other nations, justifying its actions and policies on a global scale. There are distinctive strands within the overarching idea of exceptionalism - conservative, neoconservative and liberal, for example - but what they all share is the unshakeable conviction that America is qualitatively different from all other nations, and that this difference has a quality of divine intervention. Exceptionalism, therefore, has always been expressed in moralistic terms. US democracy, institutions and constitutional arrangements are believed to be inherently superior to those of other nations because they are the conscious creation of the people and not of some distant and arbitrary state. There have always been scholarly arguments over whether or not America is truly exceptional. And even among those who believe it is, there have always been arguments over whether exceptionalism is a positive or negative concept and over what makes America exceptional. However, given the chaos of America’s current situation - both domestically and globally - the purpose of this discussion is to point out some of the ways in which America is currently, truly exceptional … and not all of them are good. The following are facts. (For brevity’s sake, I have not included any references but a quick internet search can verify all of the following statements.) The US does not have the largest military in the world in terms of active personnel but it is considered the most powerful military due to its significant military spending, advanced technology and global presence. The US does not have the most nuclear weapons but the combined arsenals of the US and Russia account for over 90% of the world’s total. The US is a leader in technology, with Silicon Valley being the most iconic tech hub globally. Other major US tech hubs include New York City, Seattle and Boston. The US benefits from a concentration of large tech companies, venture capital and a strong talent pool, particularly in areas like software, biotechnology and artificial intelligence. The US leads the world in the number of immigrants residing within its borders, one-fifth of all international migrants. These immigrants come from just about every nation in the world. Immigration has been a major contributor to US population growth, especially as birth rates have declined in recent years. Immigrants come to the US through diverse channels, including family sponsorship, employment opportunities and humanitarian programs. Among US immigrants, 49% are naturalized US citizens, 24% are lawful permanent residents, 4% are legal temporary residents and 23% are unauthorized immigrants. Nearly 44% of all immigrants in the US arrived prior to 2000. 22% entered between 2000 and 2009, and 35% have come since 2010. The US is different in this respect from any other nations. All the other great powers have a comparatively homogeneous population, close kindred in race and blood and speech, and commonly little divided in religious beliefs. The US is made up of the pioneering stock of nearly every nation in the world, with a variety of races, languages and religious beliefs. And that diversity makes America exceptional. Immigrants give the US an economic advantage. They boost overall economic growth by expanding the labor force and increasing consumer spending. The foreign born also start new businesses at higher rates than US-born individuals. Immigrants were involved in the development of 30% of patents in strategic industries in recent years, and more than 40% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants. Higher-than-expected immigration drives job growth and productivity. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that a greater level of immigration between 2024 and 2034 will boost gross domestic product (GDP) by $8.9 trillion. Immigrants constitute close to 18% of the US civilian labor force. Immigrants’ share of the labor force has more than tripled since 1970, when they accounted for approximately 5%. The largest share (38%) works in management, professional and related occupations. (At the federal level, immigrants pay more in taxes over time than they receive in government services and benefits. At the state and local level, immigrants may cost more than they pay in, primarily due to the cost of their children’s public schooling.) When we look at socioeconomic indices, American exceptionalism is found mostly in its low rankings vis-à-vis other nations. The US ranks 26 in economic freedom according to the 2025 Index of Economic Freedom by The Heritage Foundation. Its score is 70.2, placing it in the mostly free category but it remains outside the top 25 nations compared to its peers. America consistently ranks near the bottom on income and wealth equality. The World Bank found that in equitable distribution of wealth, the US ranks 45 out of 48 high-income nations, being much less equal than even nations such as the United Arab Emirates, Hungary, Qatar and Russia. The difference between the incomes of the top 10% and the bottom 50% is significantly higher in the US than in European nations or in China. The top 10% captures 45.5% of total income while just 13.3% goes to the bottom 50%. The share of total wealth owned by the poorest half of the US population is extremely small (1.5% of the total). While average household wealth in the US is 3.5 times higher than in China, the bottom 50% of the US population owns less wealth than the Chinese bottom 50%. Oxfam’s Global Inequality Report ranks the US at 99 out of 169 nations on income and wealth equality. Nothing in US national life has so undermined confidence in American exceptionalism as the erosion of economic mobility. From the 1940s until 1970, American GDP grew at an average annual rate of 2.7%. From 1970 to 1994, GDP slid to a growth rate of only 1.54%, recovered briefly to 2.26%, and then began sliding to its pre-Trump level of 1.21%. From 1948 until 1972, incomes rose by 2.65% annually for Americans in the lower 90%. During that period, the incomes of the lower 90% rose at a rate comparable to the growth of the economy as a whole. After that, things changed. Since 1972, the growth rate for the lower 90% has collapsed and turned negative. Middle-class workers who began their careers in the center of the earnings curve saw their fortunes decline by 20% since 1980. The working poor saw their situations grow more and more dire, no matter how hard they tried. In the last 50 years, the only incomes that consistently rose were those at the top, even during times of national economic growth. We still tell ourselves the same stories (Anyone can make it if they work hard enough. Every generation is more successful than the last.) but it's no longer true in America. Compared with other rich nations, America has only limited mobility at best. The US-born do not have opportunities for upward mobility compared to people born in other rich nations. Americans believe that upward mobility is much more prevalent here than it actually is. Their faith in their nation's economic mobility is exceptional among developed nations, but actual economic mobility is not possible. Particularly for those at the bottom of the income distribution, the US is less successful than other rich nations at equalizing opportunities for children. US poverty rates are substantially higher and more extreme than those found in other high-income nations. The overall US poverty rate (the percent of Americans that are poor) is 17.8%, compared to the high-income nation average of 10.7%. The poverty gap (the percent by which the average income of the poor falls below the poverty line) gives us an overall gauge of the depth and severity of poverty in a nation. Once again, the US differs from all other high-income nations, with the poor’s average income 39.8% below the poverty line. The US has a higher child poverty rate compared to other wealthy nations. The US child poverty rate is higher than the average rate in other wealthy nations, 20.8%, compared to an average for other wealthy nations of 11.2%. Child poverty rates are significantly higher than adult poverty rates within the US. Not surprisingly, the US has the highest standards of living for the middle and upper classes, higher than any other wealthy nation. Yet for those at the lower end, their standards of living fall behind almost every other wealthy nation. The reasons for this difference are twofold. First, the social safety net in the US is much weaker than in virtually every other nation. Second, the US has very low wages at the bottom of the income distribution scale when compared to other wealthy nations. These factors combine to contribute to both the relative and absolute depths of US poverty in comparison to other industrialized nations. America’s poor receive smaller incomes than the poor in nearly all the other wealthy nations, while America’s rich receive much higher incomes than the rich anywhere else in the world. By international standards, the programs the US government has established to reduce poverty are relatively small. Among the seven largest industrial nations, the US spends the smallest percent of its national income on direct government provision of social-welfare benefits, preferring instead to use (much more than other nations do) a variety of tax preferences to induce the private provision of welfare benefits, especially health care and pensions. And the US welfare system has become even more different from, for example, Europe's in recent decades. No European government is willing to impose the measures that are now common in the US, such as time limits on benefits or cessation of benefit payments to mothers who can’t work. Political support for government redistribution is much greater in Europe than in America. When Americans are asked to report their priorities, economic inequality ranks quite low, much lower than it does in other advanced democracies. A large majority of Americans believe that individuals should take responsibility for supporting themselves no matter their circumstances. Voters in other advanced democracies believe that governments have an obligation to assure that everyone is provided for, both because it's the moral thing to do and because the more successful every person is, the more successful the group is. Can a nation which calls itself exceptional really feel OK about reducing or eliminating programs that make life bearable for millions of people? Can a nation be exceptional if it neglects its own? The US is the only high-income nation that does not guarantee health coverage. The US healthcare system is characterized by high costs, low access and low outcomes compared to other high-income nations. While the US spends significantly more on healthcare, it's behind on key health outcomes, such as life expectancy and infant mortality. All nations with universal healthcare systems provide more equitable and more affordable access to care. Health spending per person in the US is nearly two times higher than in the closest nation, Germany, and four times higher than in South Korea. In the US, health spending includes money spent on people in public programs (CHIP, Medicaid, Medicare, military), money spent by those with private insurance (including employer-sponsored coverage or other private insurance), and out-of-pocket health spending. The US spends over $1,000 per person for administrative costs alone - almost five times more than the average of other high-income nations. That's not due to fraud. It's due to an inefficient system. What's so frustrating is that the federal government constantly wants to cut healthcare in order to save costs. If, instead, it would replace the current system with a universal system designed by experts in the field, it would save a lot more money and Americans would be much healthier. The US is the only high-income nation where a substantial percent of the population (8%) lacks any form of health insurance, meaning they have no access to healthcare because they can't afford the cost. (And this is post-ObamaCare. Imagine what the figure was pre-ObamaCare.) Americans see physicians less often than people in most other nations, and the US has among the lowest rate of practicing physicians and hospital beds per 1,000 population. Why? Again, costs. As much as American healthcare costs, you would expect to have a healthy population. The US has experienced stagnant life expectancy growth for decades. The US has a lower life expectancy at birth (78.4) than most other high-income nations for both men and women. US life expectancy at birth is over 4 years lower than the OECD average. Life expectancy varies considerably within the US, but life expectancy in all US states (even the healthiest) is below the average life expectancy for OECD nations. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the US is at 31 for life expectancy. In 1980, the US and OECD nations had similar life expectancies and similar health spending, but the trends have diverged in the last few decades. US life expectancy statistics mask racial and ethnic disparities. For example, in 2021, the life expectancy of men in Bangladesh (not a rich country) was 73.6 years. For that same year, the life expectancy for Black men in Washington DC was 65.2. The US has the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions. It has the highest rate of people with multiple chronic conditions and an obesity rate nearly twice the OECD average. Avoidable mortality refers to deaths that are preventable. Preventable deaths can be reduced with effective public health policies and primary prevention, such as nutritional diet and exercise. Treatable deaths can be reduced with timely and effective health care interventions, including regular exams, screenings and treatment. Avoidable deaths have been on the rise in the US, which has the highest rate of all high-income nations. With regard to maternal mortality, the US has ranked last among high-income nations (and 46 globally) for many years. In the US in 2021, there were 31 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births (a 40% spike from previous years). In comparison, the average maternal death rates in the UK and in Western Europe were 4, in Eastern Europe 12, and in Central Asia 24 per 100,000 for 2021. No wonder some argue that the US is the most dangerous place in the developed world to give birth. The US has a significantly higher infant mortality rate compared to other high-income nations. For example, in 2022, the US rate was 5.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, while other high-income nations have rates as low as 1.7 deaths per 1,000 live births. The US ranked 33 out of 38 OECD nations in 2021 for infant mortality rate, with Japan and Norway having the lowest rates. The US K-12 education system is among the most expensive globally, particularly on a per-pupil basis, but it doesn't necessarily produce superior outcomes compared to other nations. While the US spends a large amount on education, studies indicate that other nations with lower spending per pupil achieve better results on standardized tests. In 2021, the US spent $20,387 per pupil, compared to an average of $14,209 across OECD nations. (Most US K-12 funding comes from state and local governments, with the federal government contributing a smaller share.) US teachers and other school personnel generally have higher salaries than in other nations. That doesn't mean US teachers are paid well but that it's more expensive to live in the US. US schools often have advanced facilities and invest heavily in technology. US schools also have a wider range of extracurricular activities and programs compared to other high-income nations. All of this contributes to the high cost. In the US, high school graduation rates are relatively high (around 87%), but there are concerns about the quality of education received by some students, as evidenced by declining scores on standardized tests and achievement gaps. Significant achievement gaps exist in the US education system, with lower scores for students from certain racial and ethnic minority groups and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Despite high spending, the US has not consistently shown superior academic outcomes compared to nations with lower per-pupil spending, particularly in areas like standardized test scores. Some studies show stagnation or even declines in scores on standardized tests, even while spending has increased. The US generally underperforms in math compared to other developed nations. The US performs better in science, often ranking above the OECD average, but still behind high-performing nations like Japan and Korea. In 2022, the US ranked 12 out of 37 OECD nations in science. There are also concerns about the development of critical thinking, problem-solving and innovation skills in US students, which are crucial for future success in STEM fields. The US performs close to the OECD average in reading literacy. Again, these are averages with some US groups performing well and other performing well below average. The US is the only high-income nation (and one of the few globally) without substantial government support for child care. High childcare costs in the US are a significant barrier for parents, particularly low-income families, making it difficult for them to afford care and potentially impacting their ability to work or pursue education. Other high-income nations typically have robust, publicly funded systems that subsidize or provide free, high-quality child care. This can involve direct government funding, tax breaks or other forms of financial assistance to make childcare more affordable. According to the 2024 Environmental Performance Index, out of 180 nations, the US ranks 26 on water and sanitation, 31 on lead exposure and 71 on solid waste management. (Other EPI rankings can be found here.) The US has the highest incarceration rate of any nation in the world. America has 4.4% of global population but 22% of global prisoners. And the vast majority of the incarcerated are Black, Latino or Indigenous. The next four nations on the list? Rwanda, Turkmenistan, El Salvador and Cuba. The US leads the world in recidivism (re-offending) and re-incarceration. While the US has recidivism rates around 70% within 5 years of release, nations like Norway have rates such as 20%. This difference is often attributed to variations in criminal justice approaches, with the US primarily focusing on punishment and other nations emphasizing rehabilitation. Studies in the US also link it with poor education and drug use without treatment options. The US is consistently in the top 10 nations with the most confirmed executions per year, along with China and several Middle East nations. The US has the highest rate of juvenile incarceration among developed nations. While the US has seen a decline in youth incarceration rates in recent years, it still incarcerates significantly more young people than any other nation. Too, stories about the poor conditions inside juvenile facilities dampen hopes of productive lives post incarceration. As with adult incarceration, the majority of juveniles incarcerated are Black, Latino or Indigenous. The US has 121 firearms per 100 residents, making it the only nation with more civilian-owned firearms than people. Among high-income nations, the US has the highest rate of firearm homicides and the highest percentage of child deaths caused by firearms (a figure that has increased over time). Globally, the US ranks in the 93rd percentile for overall firearm mortality, the 92nd percentile for child and teen firearm mortality, and the 96th percentile for women. The US has the highest overall firearm mortality rates, as well as the highest firearm mortality rates for children, for adolescents and for women, both globally and among high-income nations. Nearly all US states have a higher firearm mortality rate than most other nations. Death rates due to physical violence by firearms in US states are closer to rates seen in nations experiencing active conflict. Americans are 26 times more likely to be shot and killed than those in other high-income nations. While accounting for 4.4% of the world’s population, the US makes up 35% of global firearm suicides. The US stands out among Western democracies for its high degree of police militarization, in terms of both the equipment and the tactics used, and in the perception of police as a force separate from the communities they serve. While a few other nations also utilize military-style equipment and tactics, the scale and intensity of militarization in the US, particularly in the context of its policing culture, are notable. Police in the US have adopted tactics and training methods originally developed for military operations, leading to a more confrontational approach to policing. (If you've ever encountered the police in another nation, I'm sure you noticed how different the experience was.) US local law enforcement agencies have received billions of dollars worth of military-grade equipment from the DOD - including armored vehicles, assault rifles, tanks, less-lethal weapons, tactical gear, etc - through programs like the 1033 program. The US has a significantly higher rate of fatal police shootings compared to other Western democracies, with some studies suggesting a correlation between militarization and increased police violence. For example, in a 24-day period in 2015, police in the US shot more people than the police did in England and Wales in 24 years. The US is often recognized as a top destination because of its universities and research institutions, attracting students from around the world. One of the secrets of American exceptionalism is not so much that the US gives birth to talented people, but that the US is a huge attractor of talented people. Increases in international student enrollment lead to increases in innovation and patent creation. In Massachusetts, for example, immigrants account for about 27% of entrepreneurs, who contribute about $3.1 billion in business income. Add to that international professors and researchers and it's easy to imagine how American universities and research institutions contribute to the economy and the society. But those things that make the US a highly desirable destination for students and researchers from around the globe - high-quality education, abundant research opportunities, strong career prospects, a diverse environment, high investment in research and development, academic autonomy - are the things the current US administration is dismantling, leaving many to wonder about the future exceptionalism of American universities and research institutions ... not to mention the damage to the economy. The US plays a prominent role in medical research, evidenced by the high number of Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine awarded to American scientists. Between 1901 and 2024, 106 Americans were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. This represents a significant portion of the Nobel Prizes awarded in that field during that period. Again, however, those things which contribute to the success of US medical research are the things the current US administration is dismantling, making the future unpredictable. American exceptionalism can also be found in measures of civil and political rights, and in the level of democracy. The US has lower voter registration rates compared to many other developed democracies. For example, while nations like Germany, Australia and Canada have registration rates exceeding 90%, the US registered only 73% of eligible voters in the last presidential election. Unlike most developed democracies where the government automatically registers eligible voters, the burden of registering largely falls on individuals in the US … and many don’t know where or when or how. Voter turnout in the US remains consistently lower than most other developed democracies, hovering around 60% in presidential elections and 40% in midterm election years. Turnout soars to 90% in democracies with mandatory voting and reaches around 70% overall in developed democracies. In 12 developed democracies, US turnout comes in at 9, higher than Spain, Canada and Japan. In the US, increasing numbers of states, which are responsible for voter registration laws and implementation, are engaging in voter suppression practices. Voter suppression refers to efforts, both legal and extralegal, to prevent or discourage specific groups of people from registering to vote or casting their ballots. The purpose of these practices (restrictive voter ID laws, reduced polling places and hours, elimination of early voting, purging voter rolls, voter intimidation, gerrymandering, language barriers, etc) is to interfere with election outcomes by hindering access to the ballot, particularly for certain groups. In the US, elections are increasingly hyper-competitive, almost life and death, and the political parties' strategies revolve around deterring the competition's voters from registering and voting. It doesn't matter if the majority of American voters favor your opponents as long as you can stop them from voting. Other developed democracies compete just as hard but by trying to have the best ideas and appeal to the most voters. The general attitude is that the higher the turnout, the better for the nation. American politics have become so vicious that the end (winning) justifies almost any means. The US stands out globally for the extent to which it denies voting rights to citizens due to criminal convictions, with over 4.4 million citizens banned from voting due to felony convictions. This figure significantly surpasses other nations. In the US, disenfranchisement often happens automatically with a conviction and can be mandatory and permanent in many cases, which contrasts with the approaches taken in other nations. The US ranks 26 out of 142 nations on the rule of law, below the majority of other high-income nations. Faltering confidence in government accountability remains an area of particular concern. Knowing that government officials are sanctioned for misconduct is down 16% since 2016. The US now ranks 36 globally. Since 2016, constraints on government powers has declined by 15% while the US fundamental rights score declined by nearly 10%. Even as checks and balances remain significantly weakened, the biggest driver of rule of law decline in the US in 2023 were problems in the criminal and civil justice systems. The US ranks in the bottom 20% of nations in accessibility and affordability of the civil justice system (115 out of 142) and absence of discrimination in the civil justice system (124 out of 142), and ranks in the bottom 25% of nations in the impartiality of the criminal justice system (109 out of 142). Both the civil and criminal justice systems declined between 2016 and 2023, specifically impartiality of the criminal justice system and discrimination in the civil justice system, down 26% and 22% respectively. The US has the third largest decline in support for free speech rights in the world (behind Israel and Japan) and has fallen from third to ninth place in the global rankings for support of free speech rights since 2021. The US has dropped almost 11 points and 12 places (to 57 out of 180 nations) since 2020 in global freedom of the press rankings. The US was recently added to the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist, a research tool that publicizes the status of freedoms and threats to civil liberties worldwide. Other nations on the watchlist include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and Serbia. CIVICUS outlines the state of civil rights through five categories - open, narrowed, obstructed, repressed, and closed. The US was classified as narrowed, reflecting the assessment that while most people are able to exercise their rights of expression, free speech, press and assembly, there are attempts to violate these rights by the US government. The US scores 64 on human rights, ranking 59 out of 195 nations, due to issues with torture, police violence and labor rights. US law enforcement agencies far too often utilize interrogation techniques that cross over into torture. US police also kill more than 1,000 people every year, disproportionately Black Americans. Moreover, the lack of effort to pass policing reform at the federal level, failure to develop national tracking of police killings and failure to update use-of-force laws to comply with international standards signal that these deaths seem to be accepted by policymakers as status quo. Obstacles to unionization and collective bargaining, as well as failures to guarantee safe working conditions, decent wages and benefits are violations of labor rights. There is also frequent use of child labor, particularly in US agriculture, where children as young as 12 years old can work up to 60 hours per week. The US ranks poorly on measures of racial equality and inclusion compared to other developed nations. It consistently underperforms in global rankings assessing racial equality and inclusion, particularly in areas like economic opportunity, social mobility and treatment of marginalized groups. On racial inclusion the US has been ranked as low as 118 in the world (2023). Another ranking placed the US on the list of the 10 worst nations for racial equality. The US lags behind many other nations in terms of gender equality and inclusion, particularly in political representation and health outcomes. While the US scores well in areas like educational attainment (although only in undergraduate degrees and women hold 2/3 of student debt), it faces significant challenges in areas like political empowerment, adolescent birth rates, maternal mortality and political violence against women. The US ranks well below both its North American neighbors (Canada and Mexico) in gender equality indices. And gender equality isn’t just a score or a DEI point … Studies show that closing gender gaps accelerates economic growth for an entire nation. The US Constitution does not have an explicit guarantee of gender equality, unlike 85% of constitutions worldwide. Many systemic issues affecting women could be remedied with the adoption of an equal rights amendment. It would be an explicit prohibition on gender-based discrimination at the highest level, directly impacting the rights of all women by making it harder for legislative bodies or courts to weaken or overturn established human rights. For example, when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, it said that no right to abortion is implicitly protected or conferred by any constitutional provision. Not only did women then lose a decades-long right over their own bodies, that decision has been the basis for the loss of a host of other rights at the state level. For the past two decades, as much of the world has expanded access to abortion, the US is one of three nations (including Nicaragua and Poland) actively rolling back gender rights. Though most Americans support legal abortion, overtly unconstitutional laws now glide through state legislatures and are met with staggering indifference by the courts. The US ranks significantly lower than many other developed nations in the proportion of women holding positions in federal legislatures and as heads of state. The US is 55 out of 148 nations in gender equality rankings due to a widening gap in political empowerment. The US loses points in global rankings due to a lack of laws guaranteeing equal pay. The US ranks poorly, with one of the widest pay gaps among surveyed nations. Although women constitute almost half of the US workforce and have increased their representation in many professions, the average compensation for female workers is roughly 82% of that for male workers, a gap that has remained relatively constant over the past several decades. Meanwhile, the wage gap between White and Black workers has grown in recent decades, meaning Black women, who are affected by both the gender and racial components of wage inequality, make about 69% of that earned by White male workers. The US is rated as below average in support for working women. It is the only nation with no federally-mandated paid parental leave. Other nations mandate an average of 31.6 weeks. The US also ranks as an expensive nation for parents, with childcare consuming roughly 30% of an average wage. European nations have been more successful in closing the gender gap than the US due to investments in affordable childcare, paid parental leave and universal healthcare. Too, American women provide the vast majority of caregiving for children and elders but are not compensated, including as credit for Social Security earnings. American women are more likely to live in poverty and economic insecurity, especially older women. The US is 58 (out of 148 nations) in terms of women’s health and survival. Only after the passage of ObamaCare did women gain close to comparable healthcare, including preventative services. (Even that is problematic since the government continues to look for ways to cut healthcare). Still, the US is the only nation where a considerable percentage of women are uninsured. Women in the US have among the lowest rates of access to a regular doctor or place of care, among the highest rates or the highest rate of skipping or delaying needed care because of the cost, and the highest rate of having medical bill debt. Although life expectancy is falling for both men and women in the US, it is falling at a faster rate for women. Maternity and child birth are much more dangerous for American women and obstetrics care is increasingly hard to find. US adolescents have higher rates of pregnancy and STDs, including HIV, than in other wealthy nations. Violence against women in the US, including domestic violence, has been rising for some time. (The new administration has removed all relevant statistics, though.) Women are also most often affected by sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. There is some indication that the status of women in the US is declining, and rather quickly. The Global Gender Gap Index benchmarks gender gaps in 148 nations. The US ranks 42, behind such nations as Rwanda, Liberia and Columbia. And the score has been dropping for over a decade … it was 17 in 2011. Women’s rights may be the canary in the coal mine! Compared to other developed nations, the US holds a moderate position in terms of LGBTIQ+ equality and inclusion. While the US has made strides in LGBTIQ+ equality and acceptance, it lags behind many other developed nations, particularly in the realm of legal protections and consistent nationwide inclusion. This is a complex issue with both legal and social dimensions, and further progress is needed to ensure full equality and safety for all LGBTIQ+ Americans. The US has a quality index score of 70, a legal index score of 83 and a public opinion index score of 56. The US was included for the first time in 2024 on the annual list of backsliding democracies published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, defined as those democracies exhibiting “gradual but significant weakening of checks on government and civil liberties.” The group reported that the US shows significant lapses in effective legislative bodies and freedoms of expression and assembly. The US earned 83 of 100 points on the Freedom House’s 2024 Freedom in the World Index, and it’s unclear whether or not US norms and institutions can withstand the assault of bad actors. Nor is it clear that America’s democratic norms and institutions are fundamentally any more rock solid than those of, say, Hungary or Venezuela. As bad as? No. But stronger? I don’t know. Part of the idea of American exceptionalism stems from the values that Americans hold. Yet when it comes to taking an international leadership position on those values, America is more often absent. The US is the only nation in the world not to have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. (A decade ago, Somalia was the only other nation on the list but it signed in 2015.) The US has not ratified important international human rights treaties such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the only industrialized democracy not to do so (along with Iran, N Macedonia, Somalia, Sudan and 3 Pacific islands). The US is in the minority in not having signed the Rome Statute and joined the International Criminal Court despite policies advancing human rights around the world. The US withdrew from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, joining Iran, Libya and Yemen. Other international agreements/organizations in which the US has refused participation: Human Right to Water and Sanitation, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement, the UN Human Rights Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement (Focuses on how less-lethal weapons, like batons, pepper spray, TASERs, acoustic weapons, truncheons, crowd control weapons, kinetic impact projectiles/rubber bullets, pepper spray, policing assemblies, projectile electric-shock weapons (pesws)/tasers, tear gas/chemical irritants, use of force, water cannons should be used to respect human rights principles. The US did not adopt the guidance nor do the DOJ or DHS have standardized guidelines.), the Basel Convention (a global treaty regulating hazardous waste) Some Americans argue that criticizing the nation openly is unpatriotic. However, there is nothing more patriotic than loving a nation so deeply that you’re willing to criticize it for its shortcomings in order to improve on them, even when you know that change may take generations to come to fruition. Is America great? Perhaps - but an unquestioning belief in America’s unrelenting greatness without acknowledging the tragedies of the past and misdeeds of the present sets a dangerous precedent. The US has made great gains due to the nation’s propensity to dream and strive for a better world. But imagine a generation of young adults more educated and aware of their nation’s successes and failures. Imagine the impact that could have on society, cultural norms, race/gender/orientation relations and overall empathy. This is the America we must work toward - an imperfect group of imperfect individuals constantly striving together to build a more perfect union. Central to the idea of exceptionalism is the fundamental belief that America is different, and that its core values are worth fighting to protect. In contrast, the extreme right’s dismissal of America’s norms, its unwillingness to acknowledge and work to improve America’s weaknesses, its love of isolationism and authoritarians, diminishes and trivializes American exceptionalism. Americans may have differing political philosophies but we can come together around common values and create an exceptionalism that is not self-serving or politicized, but is uplifting, a nation with integrity and reliability. It’s a chance to redefine what makes America exceptional. It’s about holding ourselves accountable to our ideals and demanding a future that includes everyone. In the end, American exceptionalism must be about more than patriotism. It’s about recognizing the potential and the pitfalls of a nation that prides itself on being a leader. It’s about asking tough questions and demanding better answers. It’s about willingly and optimistically embracing the complexity of what it means to be American.
Then and Now
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