Will Donald Trump's second presidency move the US toward authoritarianism, or will it be just another conservative administration? With the past eight years having provided ample evidence of the president-elect's contempt for the rule of law and democratic institutions, no question is more important.
BERKELEY – America’s democratic institutions withstood, if only barely, Donald Trump’s first presidency, but will they do so again? During the 2024 election campaign, Trump promised mass deportations and detainment camps, reprisals against his political foes, a crackdown on “the enemy within,” and a dramatic reduction of civil-service protections for federal workers. To see such policies through, he says he will be a “dictator” at least on the first day, and he continues to express admiration for authoritarian leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
BERKELEY – America’s democratic institutions withstood, if only barely, Donald Trump’s first presidency, but will they do so again? During the 2024 election campaign, Trump promised mass deportations and detainment camps, reprisals against his political foes, a crackdown on “the enemy within,” and a dramatic reduction of civil-service protections for federal workers. To see such policies through, he says he will be a “dictator” at least on the first day, and he continues to express admiration for authoritarian leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.