That blurry picture, above, portrays Jason Stanley, who is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. On November 7th, Project Syndicate published his article claiming that "The End of US Democracy Was All Too Predictable." Click the link to read the article. I don't think any paywall will prevent you from doing so.
In case you haven't guessed, Stanley is working with the following equation:
Election of Donald J. Trump = End of US Democracy
It may well be that the election of Donald J. Trump was predidctable, as Stanley argues. You have, undobutedly, read lots of articles endorsing this proposition (usually accompanied with analyses of various kinds, demonstrating that "the Democrats," or "liberal elites," or Kamala Harris (to get personal about it) were so far out of touch with reality that they actually believed that there was a chance that Harris could be elected. Fond foolishness, according to these "day after" pundits.
Those articles are worth reading, I think (I have been reading them), since they point out things that many might have overlooked.
However (if I may be so bold as to say so), equating the election of Donald J. Trump with the "End of US Democracy" is absolutely uncalled for. Furthermore, it is dangerous to make a statement like that, since someone might actually believe that this statement is true, and act accordingly (i.e., give up doing what "democracy" demands). The equation that Stanley mobilizes (Election of Donald J. Trump = End of US Democracy) suggests that the only thing that counts in determining whether or not "democracy" exists is who the president is. In fact, Stanley goes back to Plato to argue just that.
Just in case someone reading this blog posting might have missed it, the government of the United States was specifically designed to make it very difficult for a potential tyrant actually to acquire and utilize tyrannical power. That is what our famous "checks and balances" are all about. That is why our state governments are independent of federal power, and why our country is the United States of America, not just "America," plain and simple.
Does the election of Donald J. Trump put "democracy" at risk? I, personally, like to call it "self-government," but whether you say "self-government," or "democracy," the answer is YES!
Has "democracy" "ended"? The answer is NO!!
"Democracy" (again, I like to call it "self-government") isn't going to "end" unless and until you, and I, and we all give up on the idea that we're in charge of our elected representatives (including the president), not the other way around.
If I were teaching in the Political Science Department at Yale University (I did teach in the Politics Department and Legal Studies Program at UCSC for eleven years), and if Stanley were a student in my class on "Democracy," I would give Stanley's paper a failing grade.
Don't let the "professors," or the "pundits," or any "politician" tell you that our system of self-government has "ended."
It hasn't ended! Not yet, and it won't either - unless and until we all give up.
I guess Stanley may have given up.
Not me! And I hope not you!
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