DEMOCRACY UNDER SIEGE

Democratic institutions are never more at risk than when a demagogue convinces a ruling majority that their way of life is in jeopardy. At such times, the stage is set for further marginalization of those already deemed internal threats to the social order. In addition, the rule of equality before the law may be sacrificed to the putative need to maintain unity and public safety; religious minorities in particular are likely to be cast under great suspicion; the open operation of a free press is likely to erode; and the expression of political dissent and the rights of minorities face increasing constriction. Left unchecked, these reinforcing trends move a democratic state toward becoming a despotic one. It is little surprise then that a variety of actions by the Trump Administration have prompted deep anxiety in many quarters about the fate of American democracy. He promised not only a different policy agenda from the previous eight years of governance by Barack Obama, but quickly embarked on an unprecedented departure from the routine norms of Presidential conduct on numerous fronts. Trump’s open antagonism toward and demonization of both undocumented Mexican immigrants and Muslims seeking entry to the U.S., his apparent sympathy with white nationalist activists, pardon for racial profiling Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, renewed dedicated to a “War on Drugs,” views of African immigrant immigrants as coming from “shit hole” countries, and other policies that fueled the rise of racialized mass incarceration, are read in many quarters as returning America to the days of Herrenvolk Democracy.