The Presidency and America's Future

In truth, America's political elites no longer care much for democracy. Some segments of America's political elite, indeed, have come to accept the idea that American democracy was always a myth hiding racism and exploitation. Many who oppose what they see as Trump's unlawful actions would and have supported the same uses of unilateral power by a president who shared their political views. On both sides, the elite's concern is power not democracy. This observation might, indeed, be a fitting epitaph for democracy in America. The power of a political institution depends, at least in part, upon the support it receives from significant groups in society. If important social forces and interests believe that an institution furthers their views and aspirations, they are likely to serve as its champions in political struggles. Unlike the democratic socialists with whom they are sometimes confused, social democrats do not wish to nationalize all industry or restrict private property ownership or establish a dictatorship of the proletariat. Social democrats do, however, favor a substantial expansion of America's social welfare and regulatory state and a shift in America's priorities from military to domestic social spending. Beginning with England's Glorious Revolution and America's own revolution, the Western European and North American bourgeoisie challenged royal authority and built liberal regimes or hybrid regimes in which the former ruling classes were compelled to share power with the bourgeoisie.