Trump and the end of democracy in the US?

Some are predicting a dystopian future if Trump is elected for a second term

With the next presidential election less than a year away, Donald Trump is streets ahead of his Republican rivals and head-to-head polls versus the incumbent POTUS suggest Joe Biden would lose. Should we be worried? This is the subject of an excellent article in the Observer this week. David Smith writes:

"The fact that there is a more than remote chance of the twice impeached, quadruply indicted former US president returning to the Oval Office is ringing alarm bells. “I think it would be the end of our country as we know it,” Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in 2016, said on the ABC talkshow The View this week. “And I don’t say that lightly.”"

It's not just opponents of the Republican Party that have expressed concern. This is a former GOP strategist...

Questions on the video

1. According to Stuart Stevens, what are the five driving forces on the right that are working together to end American democracy?

2. In what way does Stuart Stevens compare the Republican party's acceptance of Donald Trump to the German establishment's acceptance of Hitler?

3. What similarities does Stuart Stevens draw between the ruling class in 1920s and 1930s Germany and the Republican party's relationship with Trump?

4. Despite privately criticizing Donald Trump, why did many Republicans still choose to support him and turn over the party to him?

5. Why does Stuart Stevens believe that big-money donors are complicit in helping to destroy democracy?

6. Why does Stuart Stevens argue that money will not make a difference in the Republican primary?

7. What does Stuart Stevens mean when he says that the Republican party wants to be what Donald Trump has turned it into?

Suggested answers

1. The five driving forces are propagandists, support of a major party, finances, legal theories, and shock troops.

2. Stuart Stevens compares the Republican party's acceptance of Donald Trump to the German establishment's acceptance of Hitler because they both believed they could control them and thought they would connect with the working class.

3. Stuart Stevens draws parallels between the ruling class in 1920s and 1930s Germany losing touch with the working class and the Republican party's belief that Trump would adapt to their mainstream conservative values.

4. Many Republicans still chose to support Trump and turn over the party to him because they realized that the party did not truly believe in the values they claimed to uphold, and Trump could give them power.

5. Stuart Stevens believes that big-money donors are complicit in destroying democracy because they continue to finance candidates who support Trump and his actions.

6. Stuart Stevens argues that money will not make a difference in the Republican primary because there is no significant anti-Trump market within the party.

7. When Stuart Stevens says that the Republican party wants to be what Donald Trump has turned it into, he means that Trump has made it acceptable for the party to embrace their worst selves and become a grievance party.

Further reading on this harks back to my previous blog posting on teaching and learning ideas on US decline, and can be found here...

American decline: Global Politics and useful Oxbridge prep

American decline discussion for Oxbridge prep using the Harkness Method