Not Kidding Around: Donald Trump Is Actively Threatening American Democracy

The president-elect may follow through with his authoritarian rhetoric.
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Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Liberal democratic governments share some fundamental characteristics. These include (but are not limited to) the protection of civil liberties, such as the freedom of speech, assembly, and religion. Freedom of speech includes especially the liberty to criticize the government and its leaders without fear of retribution or harm. In liberal democracies, the results of election outcomes must also be accepted and respected by both the public and candidates so that a peaceful transition of power can take place without revolution or civil war.

In the weeks since Donald Trump won the presidential election, he has sought to undermine each of these fundamentals of liberal democracy in the United States, sometimes on multiple occasions. Examples include (but are not limited to):

  • He has attempted to weaken America’s freedom of press by openly bullying and criticizing news reporters that present him in an unfavorable light.
  • He has attempted to silence private citizens who criticize him through bullying and intimidation with his Twitter account, which serves as an implicit “green light” for his supporters to threaten those critics with physical violence.
  • He has questioned the legitimacy of our electoral institutions by falsely claiming that there was widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election. This is especially important because public faith in the integrity of our election systems is a key foundation of civic stability and political legitimacy.

I could go on.

Of course, every American presidential administration has its critics and controversies. These usually take place, though, within the boundaries of liberal democratic institutions, norms, and understandings. Our differences as Americans are usually about liberalism vs. conservatism or competing trade-offs between freedom and security or freedom and equality. President-elect Trump, however, is engaging in rhetoric and activities that are actively threatening to undermine the foundations of our liberal democratic form of government. These are the things that authoritarian leaders do.

This is not an exaggeration. I am not being unreasonably alarmist or sensationalistic. This is not a debate about Democrat vs. Republican or liberal vs. conservative. It is notable that even some prominent Republicans have had the courage to step up and point out the very imminent threat that our president-elect poses to our democratic institutions and norms. And well they should: Donald Trump is giving every signal and indication that he would prefer to move America’s political boundaries and practices to be less democratic and more authoritarian.

Some could argue that this is all just bluster and rhetoric: “It’s Trump’s style! He’s just likes to rile up a crowd. He’s not really going to follow through on all of this.” Maybe. But maybe not. So far, he’s followed through on the racist rhetoric during the campaign by appointing a white nationalist as chief strategist. He’s also followed through on the Islamophobic rhetoric in the campaign by appointing someone who believes Islam to be a “cancer” as National Security Advisor. He may very well try to follow through on the rest of the authoritarian rhetoric as well. Every indication so far has been that he’s trying to do the things he said he would do during the campaign and since the election. We have every reason to expect that he will actively seek to continue to curtail First Amendment freedoms and delegitimize government institutions, increasing his own political power in the process.

The only real check on President-elect Trump is now Congressional Republicans. They will fulfill their patriotic duty to be a real “check and balance” to oppose the president’s attempts to weaken American democratic norms and institutions only to the extent to which they believe that their party’s base is also opposed to Trump’s anti-democratic gestures. Given that nearly half of Republican voters supported Trump in the primaries and nearly 90 percent of Republicans voted for Trump in the general election, though, Congressional Republicans lamentably have no real incentive to strongly oppose the president-elect’s anti-democratic initiatives and rhetoric. Loud signals to the contrary from Republican voters to their elected officials, though, might start to change this.

It has been said that every nation gets the government it deserves. Now is the time for the American people to show that they deserve the democracy they have inherited, but the lack of widespread opposition so far from the people to President-elect Trump’s actions and rhetoric leads me to fear they are not up to the task. I hope and pray they will prove me wrong.

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