America's Crisis of Democracy

Bibliographic Data

ID4284948
AuthorsWilliam G Howell (0000-0003-1733-2127, American Academy of Dermatology, corresponding author), Terry M Moe
Year2021
Volume136
Issue1
Pages105-127
Publication date2021-03-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Science Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-3195 • E-ISSN: 1538-165X
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1002/polq.13135
OpenAlexW3135986167
LanguageEN
Citations received7

THE UNITED STATES HAS LONG BEEN a beacon of democracy for the entire world. But whether that will continue in future years—indeed, whether it is even true now—is very much in question. The nation has entered a treacherous new era in its history, one that threatens the system of self-government that for more than 200 years has defined who we are as a country and as a people. The most visible embodiment of this threat is Donald Trump. His surprise victory in 2016 was a watershed in American history, vesting the presidency in a populist demagogue whose authoritarian inclinations and disdain for the rule of law signaled that serious troubles lay ahead. Those signals have been borne out. As president, he used—and abused—the vast powers of his office to attack the nation’s institutions, violate its democratic norms, and act as a strongman leader unconstrained by law and convention. His two separate impeachments by the House of Representatives were damning formal rebukes that he richly deserved

Democracy · Development economics · Economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Political Economy and Marxism

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