THE UNITED STATES’ CICERO MOMENT: THE JANUARY 6 EVENTS AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Abstract

The Capitol attack, which took place on 6th January 2021 following the former President of US Donald Trump’s denial of losing the elections and provoking his supporters with misinformation has become one of the most serious republican crises of American political history. This crisis is significant in the sense that it represents the kind of republican trouble of which Cicero had warned the coming generations. It is a known fact that the American ‘founding fathers’ extensively read Cicero’s works. This study, therefore, aims to understand and explain the January 6 events as the Ciceronian kind of republican crisis. In doing that, it will first strive to elaborate on the context and principles according to which Cicero had discussed the idea of republic. Then, it will approach the Capitol attack from a Ciceronian perspective to analyze what it means for the American republic and democracy. Finally, the paper will focus on the possible impacts of January 6 on the forthcoming presidential elections of 2024. The vulnerability of the institutions and constitution which are supposed to be the guarantors of the republican regime has once again resurfaced in the face of the pretext of fulfilling the people’s will by populist politics.