True to my nature as a political science student, I’ve spent much of the first few weeks of the semester examining the Constitution, founding documents and Supreme Court cases in excruciating detail. That said, it’s come as a shock to me how relevant the debates of the 18th and 19th centuries are today. You would think that both time and legal precedent would have solved or at least provided some insight into the major questions of American Constitutionalism.
Well, you’d be wrong — and it’s evident in today’s political landscape.
Our current executive has pushed many of those unanswered questions back into the limelight, leaving our government to test the limits of its checks and balances system once again. For much of our history — with a few exceptions — this system has worked. Our three separate but co-equal branches of government have duked it out between each other to make sure that no one’s getting more power than constitutionally allowed. The American presidency has been defined by the idea that “it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission” combined with a healthy dose of “act now and ask constitutional questions later.” It even worked quite well during Trump’s first term.
So, what’s so different about President Donald Trump this time? This time, he is backed by a well-oiled political machine with the means and the motives to ensure you end his current term with less rights than you started with, and our constitution is in crisis because of it.
This is no longer the disorientated Trump administration of his first term, where strong institutional bulwarks spread across the federal and state governments challenged executive authority in both judicial and legislative terms. Over the past four years, the Trump political machine has successfully backed party loyalists in local, state and federal elections, which guarantees the support needed to accomplish his dictatorial aspirations. Opposition within the party has been effectively extinguished, and opposition outside the party is consistently labeled as fake and untrustworthy.
When an executive says they want to “weed out corruption” which includes “look[ing] at the judges” who block his orders, blocks reporters from one of the most well-respected journalistic organizations because it refuses to accept the inane renaming of the Gulf of Mexico and unofficially places an unelected multi-billionaire advisor in control of some of the most critical functions of the government, what do you have?
What you don’t have is a man who swore to dutifully support and defend the Constitution — a constitution of the people, by the people, for the people. You have a man hellbent on concentrating executive power not in the Office, but in himself. With the support of a Republican majority in Congress and a Supreme Court who granted him broad immunity, we are only left with a constitutional crisis.
Political scientists call this “democratic backsliding,” but it’s so much more than that.
Trump has unconstitutionally usurped control over the steering wheel of democracy, shoved the gear into reverse and slammed on the gas all while making sure you have enough going on to not look up from your iPad in the backseat.
They want you to spend your time complaining about your egg prices and your TikTok ban/not-ban — or whatever they’re doing with that now. Go ahead, gossip with your friends about that one obvious Republican in your gender and women’s studies discussion. Scroll through the headlines, but make sure not to read too closely! Because while you’re doing that, the administration will continue to push through unqualified loyalists to cabinet-level positions, seize powers constitutionally granted to other departments and continue to destroy the very foundation of our constitutional democracy.
We are a nation of popular sovereignty, a nation where we uphold the values of liberty, equality and justice. A nation where we hold our rulers accountable. We are “we the People” who fought a despotic monarch to ensure the rule of law and guarantee that Americans would never again be under such rule. We are the shining city on a hill where all nations of oppressed peoples can look to for inspiration on how to achieve a more just society — a more perfect Union.
But I hate to break it to you, we shine no more.
The lights may be off, but democracy doesn’t die in darkness. It dies in a nightclub where there are a thousand multicolored lasers pointed at your eyes with strobe lights and music so loud you have no clue what’s even going on. The age of the internet has made us too connected to divide and conquer. It’s distract and conquer. It’s a constant stream of headlines, executive orders, court orders, resignations, appointments, agreements and debates all aimed at disorienting you so you can’t sort out the funny from the fascist.
Now is not the time for moral trepidation or timorous certainty — now is the time to harken back to our foundational sentiment. We are the nation of righteous revolutionaries, civil disobeyers and unyielding defenders of justice. It can feel ridiculous to speak out against our own government’s malfeasance because how could it ever happen here? Remember, everywhere the "it" has happened, everyone asked themselves the same question — Germany, Italy, Poland, Brazil, France, Russia, Japan, Turkey, Hungary, the list goes on. Right-wing populist executive takeovers can happen anywhere at any time.
We are no better.
It is our responsibility, as Americans, to oppose our government when our government opposes us. Stay informed and stay paying attention because the devil truly is in the details. There will never be a headline or an executive order that says “THIS RIGHT HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY,” but through constitutional passivity day by day and year by year, things will erode. We need to stand up and speak out now — for ourselves, our way of life, our government and our beloved Constitution.
Aidan Cummins is a senior studying Economics, Political Science and Personal Finance. Do you agree our constitution is in crisis? Send all comments to Opinion@dailycardinal.com
