Ideas in this thread are from Harvard history Prof. Steven Levitsky and Columbia Law Prof. David Pozen.
On Mar. 26 ⬇️ Prof. Levitsky answered the question: Is American democracy in trouble?
Scholarship has established that the older and richer the democracy, the more resilient to autocrats.
Statistically speaking US democracy SHOULD be safe.
But there are 3 reasons to think we are in danger.
💠Income inequality is the greatest since the great depression.
💠We’ve begun a transition that no democracy has ever successfully completed: A dominant ethnic group [white Christians] losing its majority status.
💠We have a president with visibly authoritarian instincts.
2008, Palin and others told their followers that Obama (and Democrats) were not real or “true” Americans.
2008, Palin and others told their followers that Obama (and Democrats) were not real or “true” Americans.
Hardball=anti-democratic tactics.
These include: Going around the Constitution; denying Obama a Supreme Court pick; threatening to jail political opponents (“lock her up”) or worse, doing it; delegitimizing political opponents, etc.
In the 1950s and earlier, both parties—as well as universities and all pillars of society—were largely run by white Christian men.
When an ethnic group loses dominant status, it can be extremely threatening.
Many feel like the country they grew up in is being taken away from them.
Minority groups & women didn’t fully achieve equal rights until after the Civil Rights & women’s rights movement.
So this whole “equality for all” is really fairly new.
The backlash started after 1955.
The Democratic Party, OTOH, has morphed into the party of urban intellectuals, minority communities, and young people.
The GOP is becoming increasingly desperate.
By 2014, they were down to 57%.
By 2024, they're projected to be less than 50%.
Because the GOP sees Democrats as an existential threat, members have come to fear defeat as catastrophic.
(From Levitsky)
“Take our country back,” reflects that sense of urgency and peril.
“MAGA” reflects a pining for a bygone era (white male control, and largely anti-democratic).
This is what wrecked democracy in Spain in the 1930s, Brazil in the 1960s, and Chile in the 1970s.
The good news: American democratic antibodies are strong. Trump is getting strong pushback from media, courts, law enforcement agency, and civil society.
The not-so-good news: the underlying problems of polarization have not gone away [from me: and seem to be increasing].
The danger of dysfunction is that people will lose faith in the government, which will further weaken our systems.
The greatest danger to democracy is what Levitsky calls “escalation."
(escalation = responding with more hardball)
Because the Dems have better medium and long-term prospects, the worst thing they can do imitate GOP tactics, play hardball, and further damage our democratic institutions.
But instead of destructive hardball tactics, Prof. Levitsky recommends that Democrats use what Columbia Law prof David Pozen calls anti-hardball reform.
For more, see: lawfareblog.com/hardball-andas…
To take an example: Suppose the GOP passes restrictive voter ID laws.
Hardball response: Take away the right to pass such laws. This, though, weakens legislatures.
Anti-hardball response: organize a massive drive to get everyone the correct I.D.
This is not an easy transition to make.
To get through this transition with the minimum damage to our institutions, Dems must refraining from hardball tactics.
I expect people to say, “Uh-uh! I have it on good authority. . .
To get through this transition with the minimum damage to our institutions, Dems must refraining from hardball tactics.
I expect people to say, “Uh-uh! I have it on good authority. . .
Levitsky isn’t on Twitter, so he can’t compete with the Twitter Experts, but here’s his resume:
scholar.harvard.edu/files/levitsky…
Please read it and listen to his lecture.
If everyone who is worried—millions of people—get busy and look for constructive ways to strengthen our institutions, we’ll get through this.
Need ideas?⤵️ terikanefield-blog.com/things-to-do/
(I'll soon be adding to the that page)
Putin's motives are clear. Undermining confidence in democracy is part of Active Measures. When enough people lose confidence, it's all over.