The Price of Democracy

(Disclaimer: La Tonique Media LLC does not represent any political ideology. While we do not espouse any political beliefs, we do seek to provide a balance perspective by incorporating voices from both sides of the political spectrum.)

By Stepan Gauvreau

In 2016, political and cultural conservatives, evangelical Christians, white nationalists, and other groups and individuals discontent with the trajectory of the United States coalesced to elect Donald Trump to the presidency. This surprised many, even on the right, but when the dust settled and Trump was sworn in, a significant portion of the population expected to see its various domestic policy goals realized.  

Conservatives–many religious–met the election of a highly immoral individual with a variety of excuses and rationalizations for his personal behavior. A man who bragged about being able to get away with sexual assault became the protector of religious liberties to many Christians, especially evangelicals. Trump, with a sordid and long history of racism, misogyny, and bankruptcies, is buoyed by conservative Christians, who, as Ben Howe, the author of Immoral Majority, puts it, see themselves as engaged in a take-no-prisoners culture war.  

Despite Trump’s actions before assuming the presidency and a tumultuous time in office, he has enjoyed significant political support from Republicans in the last four years. Many see him as a bastion against an America that they do not recognize anymore, and they condone bending the rules to “get things done.”  But just how far are these conservative factions willing to go to achieve their vision for America?  It would seem that they are ready to sacrifice American democracy. 

As if straight from a page out of the aspiring authoritarian handbook, Trump has taken aim at the levers of federal oversight, namely, the inspectors general of various federal executive agencies, ranging from the intelligence community to the Department of Health and Human Services.  Trump has replaced inspectors general with whom he is displeased, signaling little tolerance for anything that contradicts the alternate reality he pushes.  Though he has faced some pushback–albeit muted and ignored–this attack on executive oversight leaves few alternatives to check the president, with voting remaining the best option to stymie his push for unabated autocratic rule. 

Naturally, then, Trump has been trying to undermine public faith in voting, most recently decrying the validity of mail-in options.  Even before the pandemic caused concerns about the possible dangers of voting in person, Trump went after public trust in voting, seeking to invalidate the results of the 2016 popular vote by alleging that millions of votes were illegally cast for Hillary Clinton.  In the runup to the 2020 election, he has ramped up efforts to destroy any faith in mail-in voting.  

Besides Trump’s actions outside of the office of the president, he has enjoyed significant support from Republicans.

(Win McNamee | Getty Images)

In his multi-pronged offensive, the president has not spared governmental organs whose independence is crucial to a healthy democracy.  By lambasting federal judges and Supreme Court decisions that are not in line with his will, Trump is chipping away at the independence of the judiciary, whose separation from the federal branch is paramount to maintaining a stable constitutional balance.

Trump has been accused of stoking racial tensions since the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matters (BLM) protests highlighted widespread disquiet over racial bias in policing and elsewhere.  Trump’s disparate responses to armed rightwing protestors in Michigan and BLM protestors confirmed his outright partisan prejudice.  Even in the GOP, some are worried that such an approach to race will only turn potential voters away from Trump.  

Despite Trump’s methodical march to destroy norms, Republicans still overwhelmingly support him, with white evangelical Christians comprising a significant portion of that voting bloc.  In a bid for social and political control, this win-at-all-costs mentality is causing damage, perhaps irreparably, to American democracy.  

Throughout the last four years, Trump has undermined the pillars upholding American democracy by sapping the authority of federal watchdogs, eroding faith in voting, weakening the independence of the judiciary, and widening racial divides.  He has entrenched polarization rather than seek to create cooperation across the aisle and mitigate social grievances.

Perhaps if the Trump administration was producing results for the majority of conservatives their support could be justified.  Yet, though repealing gay marriage and Roe v. Wade, packing the courts with conservative judges, enervating the LGBTQ+ community, and stemming the tide of demographic change–items topping the religious and cultural conservative agenda–few gains have been made on the federal level for each of these issues.  Obsequious exaltations of an amoral and ineffective president that are rationalized with “but abortions” or “but Supreme Court justices” are then little more than naked adulation for a man upholding a white, Christian cultural hegemony that, in eyes of many of his supporters, is besieged by an increasingly diverse demography.  The cornerstones of democracy are being severely battered by Trump, who is enabled by servile supporters seeking to cling to power.  Many Americans have thrown their lot in with an aspiring autocrat who is periling our democracy.  With a looming election it is time to ask: is it worth it?

Stepan is a political writer for La Tonique.