Discussion – American Democracy

Discussion – American Democracy

Authoritarian behaviors are a significant threat to democratic governance in the United States of America. It undermines democratic norms. According to Madison, the nature of man is to hold opinions about anything and everything; the opinions always differ from one person to the other, and hence, factions are inevitable. The American community is made of people with different amounts of property and wealth.  People form alliances with people similar to them and can use those alliances to work against the public’s interest. He thought that the federal constitution provided a happy combination of pure democracy and a republic. Citizens of the US elect several people to represent them. These representatives vote for the laws. The representatives are assumed to be the people’s voice, but everybody’s decision is most of the time impacted by their interests. The size of the republic determines the accuracy of choosing a good representative. As much as people with self-interest are being selected to represent people and end up representing themselves, most republics are large. Large republics have people spread to more expansive territories, and many people are involved in choosing the representatives; this minimizes the vicious acts of corrupt representatives from succeeding. More significant constituencies provide better representatives. The US facilitates authoritarian factions through the use of representatives to make laws for the people. It limits the authority by making the constituencies larger, enabling many people to vote or elect the representative to eradicate the ones driving their self-interest.

Levitsky and Ziblatt argued that democratic ideals should be protected. Political parties and leaders should work to work daily to ensure that extremist demagogues never gain power. They have to keep off the mainstream party tickets and refusing to endorse them at all cost. Political leaders need the courage to isolate popular extremists. With political extremists off political platforms, stringent norms will not come in or be embraced. The Constitution has to be defended by institutions, political parties, citizens, and democratic norms. The foundations of the democracy of the US are more robust than those for other countries. There is a balance system and checks in the constitutional approach to bring mutual toleration, forbearance, and understanding parties. However, the constitution has been endangered over the years and cannot thoroughly do the checks to eradicate authoritarian behavior.

The constitution makes it difficult for authoritarianism to continue. It has given people the ultimate authority of the Federal Government. The majority wins all the time, but the minority’s welfare is taken care of. The Constitution limits the Government’s power using procedural and institutional limitations. An individual’s right to liberty and life is protected by the Constitution, hence preventing authoritarian regimes. The succession of leadership in the Government is done at certain intervals, and there are steps put in place to ensure an orderly and peaceful transition of power. Constitutional democracy has fundamental values which are concerned with human worth and dignity. The Constitution provides a fair distribution of burdens and benefits in society.

Some indicators of authoritarianism are systematic and continuous efforts to intimidate and silence the media organizations in the country. It can be done by excluding reporters of specific media organizations from conferences or interviews. Also, waging verbal war against journalists and media is an indicator (Levitsky and Ziblatt 149). They are politicizing the military, domestic security agents, National Guard, and civil service. There are services in the country that are essential and necessary for every citizen, and they should not be politicized. These services defend the Constitution independently. The president or Government can use surveillance Government, like the FBI, against political opponents. The government surveillance teams should always be used for crucial national security protocols. State power is used to punish opponents and reward corporate bankers. Presidents accommodate groups that are the most powerful team that the president welcomes well, such as the team that backs all his campaigns. The country’s wealth has a possibility of being misused. They are stacking the Supreme Court and enforcing laws for one side. Legal supporters have no law enforcement on them even after committing crimes. Authoritarians rig the system in their favor to continue with their illegal, malicious activities without any follow-up by nobody.  Fear-mongering is used to make people fear losing that person at all costs since they are sure he will help them. They are rejecting democratic rules like elections, the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution. They want to make their own rules and follow them. They are denying the legitimacy of the political opponents,  like claiming their opponents to be subversive, criminals, or existing national threats, encouraging or tolerating violence. The individuals may be in gangs or encouraged criminal violence or mob attacks. They are ready to curtail their opponents’ civil liberties by supporting defamation of laws or criticizing the Government.

The many forms of authoritarianism hinder democratic deals or democracy from being exercised by the citizens. The efforts of authoritarianism to intimidate and make media personnel limit their coverage are against the freedom of expression and conscience of an individual or citizen. It also violates the freedom of the press in America. The use of government resources and agencies against political opponents breaks the separation and sharing of powers between agencies by the government. The use of state power in punishing opponents and satisfying one’s agenda violates limited government policy. According to the Constitution, the use of state power in punishing opponents in the political arena violates the promotion of justice and equality. Offenses are not well-judged. Politicizing essential services like national guards and security agents violates the freedom of every citizen to look for their work. The people who are allies are not being judged according to their mistakes, which also violates the Constitution’s sense of equality. The Constitution demonstrates and promotes corrective, procedural, and distributive forms of justice. They ensure that society distributes justice well, appropriate responses are made, and fair procedures are used to gather information. The Constitution develops political, economic, and lawful equality. The law gives each citizen a chance to participate in politics and doesn’t discriminate based on race, gender, ethnicity, and age. Claiming opponents to be criminals or not a good fit for leadership because they think that they are involved in activities that endanger the country violates the equality in the law rule. Everyone is equal to the law, so in case of anything, they should answer to the law.

The United States Constitution has proven over time to be flexible and stable enough to survive in the current world even after decades of being written. It is one of the most important documents in American history. It creates the branches of the Government: executive, judiciary, and legislature. The legislative power belongs to Congress, executive power to the president, and judicial power to the Supreme Court. It helps balance the power and authority of the three branches to prevent tyranny in any unit. To ensure a balance of power, important actions demand participation from at least two departments. It successfully divides power between the US government and the states in America. The federal government’s ability is much compared to that of state governments, but in the constitution, they are limited. There are powers reserved to the people by not being delegated to the Federal Government and not prohibited by the state government. Federal law is more supreme compared to state law. Any law, either local or state, that conflicts with the constitution can be preempted. The body protects the individual liberties of the American citizen. It protects individuals from intrusion by the federal or state Government. The Bill of Rights contains most of the personal constitutional protection. The Bill of Rights was an amendment to the American Constitution protecting citizens from discrimination based on their sex and race. The written American constitution is difficult to amend because the amendment is a procedure that has to be followed by the latter. The Constitution protects future generations. It prevents people from taking tyrannical power to the state or federal government during a crisis. It also protects the rights of the minorities in the society from being taken away by the majority. The Constitution does not allow people holding office to increase their term or power while in office.

Authoritarianism has a centralized or concentrated government. The Government or constitution can make it difficult for authoritarianism to control the country. The presence of political parties and an election is a way to keep the president and the federal Government under control. The political leaders have to belong to a political party; the leading party is monitored by the other party to ensure good results and management of the leadership. An election allows the citizens to choose the leader whom they think is the best fit. After a specific time in America, the polls are done to ensure a smooth and peaceful transition from one Government to the other. Before the election, the people vying for the seats tell the citizens how they can help in the development of the country or state through campaigns and debates. The presence of civil society will help in maintaining democracy in a state or a country. A civil society follows the constitution keenly and will ensure that the leaders adhere to the constitution. The constitution has divided power between the three branches: legislature, judiciary, and executive. Each unit will perform specific tasks that the other branch cannot. The units are interdependent; hence none of them can have the ultimate power. Division of power prevents authoritarianism in the country.

Authoritarianism embraces unregulated and informal exercise of power. The leader can appoint himself, or if selected by the people through an election, he cannot be displaced. The democracy of a country dying is not an event but a process that takes some time. In most countries where democracy has died, the leaders have eviscerated both the informal and formal infrastructures of democracy. Some countries that have experienced authoritarianism are Poland, Italy, Peru, Hungary, Russia, Turkey, Argentina, and Venezuela (Levitsky and Ziblatt 154). As the prime minister was making his authoritarianism move in Hungary, he faced very little resistance from the governing party. In Poland, a movement to break and dismantle all the balances and checks was also met with little opposition. Ignoring the references or checks and balances has helped in killing democracy in many countries. Restrain political leaders and prevent the courts and media from having a lot of power. In the United States, political leaders can decide to remain loyal to the president by not stopping his bad behavior and not commenting on it. They can sometimes support his questionable or controversial behavior. Some can publicly stay away from the president to not be associated with his controversial behavior. If the leaders do not stop the president when he is trying to practice authoritarianism, it will be easy to take root. These behaviors and responses from the political leaders will encourage the president to continue misusing his power and get authoritarianism.

Works cited

Levitsky, Steven, and Daniel Ziblatt. How Democracies Die. 2018.

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Discussion – American Democracy

In How Democracies Die, Levitsky and Ziblatt argue that the greatest threat to democratic governance in the U.S. lies in the acceptance of authoritarian behavior that serves to undermine democratic norms. To what extent does the US Constitution (i.e., Madison’s design) facilitate or frustrate authoritarians who might wish to make the system less democratic? Why and how does the Constitution do so? What specific remedy do Levitsky and Ziblatt argue is needed to protect democratic ideals? To what extent does the U.S. Constitution facilitate the use of this solution?

For this assignment, you will write an approximately 7-8 page paper that evaluates whether and to what degree the Constitution makes it difficult for authoritarians to take power in the US. To do so, be sure to develop a clear thesis answering the question by identifying the aspects or indicators of authoritarianism and the democratic values they undermine. Then, describe the goal of the U.S. Constitution and how it creates institutions that make it easy or hard for an authoritarian to take control. Give specific examples of institutions built into the Constitution to explain and support your argument. To what extent is the solution that Levitsky and Ziblatt identify (often in other countries) likely to be effective in the U.S.? Why or why not?