In our last article, we examined how Tunisia lost its democracy when its president returned the country to an authoritarian state. Given recent comments made by Donald Trump’s former colleagues, it begs the question of whether it could happen in America.
Let’s compare Tunisia’s situation to America’s on four key points:
- Intent. Tunisia’s president, Kais Saied, ran for office intending to consolidate power unto himself. Donald Trump also appears to be doing so. His former Chief of Staff and the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have both called him fascist and said he would run the country like a dictator if he could. More glaringly, Trump’s attempted coup d’état would have essentially ended American democracy had it succeeded on January 6, 2021.
- Ability. Saied was a law professor who understood Tunisia’s constitution and its weak spots. He was able to gradually transition the country using legal measures. Trump is no legal scholar, but he does have enablers to help him. In fact, Heritage Foundation provided a blueprint in its Project 2025.
- Experience. Saied was a newcomer to office when he began turning his country dictatorial. Trump already has one term of experience and brags about knowing what to do differently the second time around, to include surrounding himself with sycophants and getting revenge on former colleagues.
- Constitution. Tunisia’s constitution was only eight years old when it was replaced by one that gave unchecked power to its president. The American constitution is over 236 years old and should have enough checks-and-balances to preserve the government’s separation of powers. However, if key constituencies (e.g., Senate, Supreme Court) decide to forego precedent (as has been their recent tendency), those protections could degrade.
Representative government emerged from authoritarian government as printing enabled mechanisms to shift power to parliaments. One can surmise that Trump will attempt to remove such mechanisms, shifting power to himself. Even if he’s unsuccessful, the ensuant court battles and potential constitutional crisis could paralyze the government and cost US prestige around the world. (Even pardoning the January 6 rioters would significantly weaken the Justice Department.)
Ultimately, the protector of democracy is the electorate. The people have to want to preserve their democracy, and few could argue there is a more important issue in this presidential election. The economy, abortion, the border—none of these matter much if our government doesn’t function. Do we want to take that risk?
Source:
Ruby Cramer, “Trump is a “Fascist to the Core,” Gen. Milley says in Woodward Book,” Washington Post, 13 October 2024, A2.
Michael S Schmidt, “As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump would Rule Like a Dictator,” Washington Post, 22 October 2024, accessed from https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/22/us/politics/john-kelly-trump-fitness-character.html
Photo: Bloomberg