
Shocking though Donald Trump’s victory was, looking back we can see how his presidency is the culmination of trends, some of which have been decades in the making:
- Polarization: The sorting of American voters into two ideologically homogenous parties.
- Urban-rural split: The Electoral College and Senate give more power to the conservative countryside at the expense of liberal cities.
- Imperial presidency: The executive has accumulated power at the expense of other branches of government, raising the stakes in presidential elections.
- Politicization of the courts: Presidential appointments of federal and Supreme Court judges undermine the perceived impartiality of the courts, which in turn weakens the rule of law.
- Overreliance on the military: Foreign policy is now run by generals, not diplomats. The military has its own hospitals. It plays a crucial role in disaster relief. It may not be long before the Army Corps of Engineers is asked to fix America’s broken infrastructure. Read more “The Trends That Gave Us Trump — And What to Do About Them”