The defenders of democracy as we have known it for 250 years face challenges. It is how to explain an abstract political science term to those who do not think in the abstract, but have a hard time understanding how it relates to the reality of the lives they are living now. It is a messaging problem that Democrats have not yet learned how to fix. How do you get it across that a King does away with rights you may need sometime? Some ideas. Just calling Trump a King ( a gentler stand-in term for autocracy, dictatorship, or fascism) or invoking due process and the rule of law, or protecting an independent judiciary, is not enough. These terms must be related to the experiences people are having now. The opportunity is there even in the two major reasons he won the last election: immigration and reversing high prices (the economy).
Update 5/2/2025 My own seat of the pants guess has been that about half of Americans view Trump as a danger to democracy and about half want Trump to have more power to accomplish the goals of which they approve. A recent poll however, shows that more than a majority , 54% of Americans see him as a dangerous dictator. Of course, the divide is still heavily partisan, but it shows a shift that some who voted for him in November 2024 are getting the message that Trump is indeed a danger to democracy. Most Americans Describe Donald Trump as 'Dangerous Dictator'—New Poll - Newsweek
Continuing with the original post
One blowback from an out-of-control president acting like a King is easy to bring down to reality. Trump has his own agenda that is more important than yours that was to bring down the cost of groceries and gas at the pump. Not only that, he is doing things that you did not vote for: sabotaging social security and veterans' benefits and protections against being ripped off by lenders.
The real impact of Trump's policies is already being realized by many, but so far, it is a matter of fear about what may happen: The real experience that prices will go up, shelves will be empty, has not even been felt yet. Voters are beginning to grasp t that this will happen and Trump seems not tocare. That explains why his favorability is polling lower. Not only have prices not been rolled back, but they understand they may even get higher if he continues as he is doing now. So what. Trump knows he does not have to face voters again. So sorry, he thinks, he has other fish to fry like tariffs and tax policy, and in time, he will get back to you, he promises and promises and promises. Tariffs will be good for you in the meantime. The lesson to learn from this: Rule by what people want is not the same as what Trump wants in this case. You elected him, but now he is off on his own agenda that hurts you. That is the consequence of having a King,(a strong leader), who is focused on giving himself more power. It is the opposite of rule by what the people want expressed through their representatives in Washington. The rule of, by, and for the people is the fundamental meaning of "democracy". People should have the power to set priorities and influence their execution by the government. Rule by a strong leader who thinks he can do what he wants is the opposite.
The issue of immigration is much more difficult to deal with than the realities of the economy. Most ordinary citizens do not think in abstract legal terms or think about unintended consequences that could hurt them if due process protections did not exist. When they hear warnings that such and such will happen if, for example, due process, the rule of law, and an independent judiciary are replaced by a strong leader who will ignore or even destroy such niceties, so what? It sounds like political fear-mongering, more political noise, so it is dismissed as just that. That stuff is standing in the way of what they voted for Trump to do on immigration, right?
What does, for example, the treatment of Abrego Garcia have to do with non-immigrant lives or them as citizens?. That's too bad, or he had it coming to him. Right? What is at stake is far larger than the fate of an undesirable resident of our country. You are not one of those, so why care? In short: If no one enforces those rights and protections, they are as good as useless, whether you are a citizen or are in this country with or without documents. Imagine if you are wrongfully charged with, say tax evasion, or a crime you did not commit. You had better hope you still have the right to your day in court, that the judge is not beholden to the president to rule in his favor, and that you can be fairly treated to defend yourself. That is what due process, the rule of law, and an independent judiciary mean... they can protect you from unfair treatment by a government. However, if the president believes it is in his interest to ignore all of those niceties, and no one stops him, your rights can also be ignored and not enforced on your behalf and anyone else you care about, because the king has already gotten away with it before, and he can do it again in yours or others cases.
(I am using the accusatory "you" but I apologize. I am a political science major who has a professional lifetime of putting democracy into practice, advocating for people to use it to solve their problems, and explaining it to a wide variety of people, as an author, talk show host, and election commissioner. I have the unique experience of seeing firsthand what it is to live like an ordinary person in a dictatorship. I have a sense of urgency. It is not abstract to me; it is reality. Democracy has never been questioned or attacked like this before, so our constitutional democracy now needs so much defending. We have been taking our individual rights for granted. We as a nation are just beginning to understand that we could lose them and what that means.)
Issues to watch: Trump's use of active military to enforce domestic laws: on the road to fascism. https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/trumps-expanded-domestic-military-use-should-worry-us-all?fbclid=IwY2xjawJ9rTFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFxa3RZYUk1eGNIUzZvRDh4AR5FNQQWstd9vC-72FR1pc7wavt5RbVDFxwmOxy0x-ey1rLnUpffrb2XL46vXw_aem_2A5GiPRJPFYVUySi8-cVsQ
https://newrepublic.com/article/194463/100-days-trump-clown-show-fascism
Growing list of Trump's unconstitutional initiatives:
Trump not sure if he has to uphold the Constitution:
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