Donald J. Trump and the Politics of Democratic Dysfunction

Bibliographic Data

ID21831885
AuthorsCary Fraser (0000-0001-5335-621X, Appalachian State University, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume17
Issue1
Pages165-182
Publication date2020-06-19
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFast Capitalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1930-014X • E-ISSN: 1930-014X
PublisherUniversity of Texas at Arlington Libraries (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.32855/fcapital.202001.010
OpenAlexW3036594973
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited12

The United States has entered a profound crisis of governance and governability following the impeachment of Donald Trump by the House of Representatives and, after a parody of a Senate trial, was acquitted - to remain in office by the Senate controlled by a Republican majority. This essay seeks to analyze both the origins and context of the contemporary conundrum where one of the world’s oldest representative systems of government has entered a phase of democratic dysfunction. Donald Trump is an elected President – on the basis of a minority of the popular vote cast in 2016 – who has sought to redefine both the power of the Presidency as the supreme authority in a system originally designed to create checks and balances among the three branches of government – the Presidency, the House and the Senate as the legislative branch, and, the Judiciary with powers of adjudication and resolution of disputes. The Trump administration and the Republican party are seeking to redesign the structures and principles of governance – at considerable variance with the design of the Founders who sought to prevent the emergence of authoritarian/monarchical rule in the American Republic

Authoritarianism · Democracy · Impeachment · Legislature · Monarchy · Political science · Politics · Presidency · Separation of powers · Supreme court · History · Law · Political Theory and Influence · Public Administration

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