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- Lucan Ahmad Way<\/b>, Distinguished Professor of Democracy, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto<\/li>\n
- Aziz Z. Huq<\/b>, Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor of Law, University of Chicago<\/li>\n
- Gloria J. Browne-Marshall<\/b>, Professor of Constitutional Law, John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nSince taking office, Trump\u2019s actions \u2014 including increased immigrant extraditions, revocation of legal statuses, DEI bans, and new restrictions on the press \u2014 have triggered at least 328 lawsuits nationwide as of May 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the really big difference from cases of slower-developing authoritarianism in places like Hungary, Turkey and India \u2026 is this rapid, open disregard for court rulings and legality,\u201d said Lucan Ahmad Way.<\/p>\n
One influential survey by Bright Line Watch asked over 500 U.S. political scientists to rate American democracy on a scale from 0 (complete dictatorship) to 100 (full democracy). The score dropped from 67 after Trump\u2019s election to 55 just weeks into his second term.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing now are subtle legal or semi-legal abuse,\u201d Way added. \u201cFrom defamation suits to online harassment, that increase the costs of even mainstream opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Way noted that fear is reshaping public behavior: \u201cWe see donors who are scared to give to the Democratic Party or left-wing causes for fear of retribution. We see self-censorship in the media.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite a likely Supreme Court challenge, Way believes a third Trump term is on the table. \u201cwould be quite surprised, assuming Trump\u2019s health holds, that he doesn\u2019t go for a third term. At this point, it\u2019s the likely scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump has floated the possibility publicly, including in a March interview with NBC where he said he was \u201cnot joking\u201d about seeking a third term. He mentioned one potential route: Vice President JD Vance could run and step aside once elected. \u201cBut there are others, too,\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n
The 22nd Amendment clearly prohibits a third presidential term, stating: \u201cNo person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.\u201d But legal scholars argue other constitutional provisions already disqualify Trump from holding office.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my view, there are other provisions in the Constitution that apply to President Trump, precluding him from holding the office that he holds now,\u201d said Aziz Z. Huq. \u201cSection 3 of the 14th Amendment bars individuals who engage in rebellion, insurrection, or provide aid and comfort to either rebellion or insurrection. This language plainly and comfortably fits President Trump, given his actions on January 6, 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Trump v. Anderson<\/i> on March 4, 2024, that only Congress \u2014 not individual states \u2014 can enforce Section 3\u2019s disqualification clause.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s second term has already disrupted longstanding political, legal, and cultural norms \u2014 and that, Huq suggests, may give Democrats new latitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the \u201890s onwards, the Democrats, like many left-of-center parties around the world, came to accept a set of economic policies \u2014 deregulation, open markets, financial liberalization \u2014 usefully but roughly called \u2018neoliberalism,\u2019\u201d he said, Which ended up costing them working-class support. \u201cDemocrats have much more space to pursue policies that directly speak to the economic pressures that drive authoritarian populism than they did even five or 10 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Democrats, some argue, are still lacking a coherent vision.<\/p>\n
According to Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, there\u2019s no forward-looking plan. Fear is Trump\u2019s strategy: fear of immigrants, of diversity, of economic insecurity. And Democrats haven\u2019t figured out how to counter that with something bold.<\/p>\n
She warned that the erosion of rights once applied selectively is now being extended to the broader population.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we think about the abuses of power, we had grown used to these methods of undermining constitutional protections when it came to people of African descent and other communities that had been politically or economically marginalized, but it was always assumed in this country that it would have a limit there,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cAuthoritarian power isn\u2019t appeased with acquiescence and capitulation. It only grows stronger.\u201d Browne-Marshall emphasized. \u201che focus of all this is not just to gain power, but to have power as we go into the year 2045, when this nation becomes majority<\/a> people of color. That\u2019s what this is about: the fear of diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n
She invoked Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s final book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?<\/i> Dr. King said if this country truly embraced equality, it wouldn\u2019t want democracy. \u201cHe understood that sharing power is very difficult. In a country that pretends it shares power, it\u2019s even more difficult when we try to make that sharing of power a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Images provided by ACoM.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just over 100 days into President Trump\u2019s return to office, concerns about unchecked executive authority are mounting across the country. A late April poll by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 52% of Americans \u2014 including 87% of Democrats, 56% of Independents, and 17% of Republicans \u2014 agreed that Trump is a \u201cdangerous dictator…<\/p>\n
- Aziz Z. Huq<\/b>, Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor of Law, University of Chicago<\/li>\n