A ruling last week by the top court of the state of Colorado barring Donald Trump from appearing on the state's ballot in the presidential election of 2024 has added the latest twist to a political contest that the world is watching closely. The court held Mr Trump culpable of insurrection through his speeches and exhortation to the crowds of supporters who tried to take over Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021 to overturn the results of the 2020 vote that Mr Trump had lost. The former president is expected to appeal against the verdict before the Supreme Court of the United States of America. The consequences of how that appeal plays out could be decisive for the 2024 election. The case has demonstrated the functioning of the multiple guardrails that hold democracy up in the US that appear to have survived years of bitter political divisiveness. Mr Trump leads the Republican Party's field of potential presidential nominees by such a large margin that he has not even bothered to participate in debates with the rivals hoping to get the party's approval for the election. He also leads President Joe Biden, the expected Democratic Party candidate, in several head-to-head polls. Yet, if he is unable to compete in Colorado, which has 10 electoral college votes, it could impact his perceived electability.

Mr Trump's supporters will argue that the Colorado judgment, delivered by judges appointed by a Democratic governor, is only the latest in a series of legal obstacles that, in their view, amount to political attempts by Democrats to derail an opponent's campaign. Yet, what is clear is that the scrutiny of top political candidates and their track record helps voters stay better informed about their choices. Mr Biden faces his own politico-legal challenges in the form of charges that his son confronts pertaining to tax evasion and illegal gun ownership. That federal and state prosecutors and judges can take decisions, even if it upsets both sides of the political divide, speaks to the strength of US democracy. That it is hard to say which way the US Supreme Court might rule on an appeal by Mr Trump, even though it has a conservative majority and multiple judges appointed by Mr Trump, underscores a robustness in American institutions that other democracies, including India, can learn from.