13 cracks: repairing American democracy after Trump

As America moves into a new era, pundits and scholars are asking how badly American democracy and its institutions have been damaged by Trump and his followers. The answer is: it's serious. Lichtman looks at 13 aspects of American democracy, analyzes how they have been damaged, and then offers reasonable, intelligent advice on how to repair or ameliorate the damage. These subjects include reclaiming truth, policing conflicts of interest, expanding transparency, and stopping cronyism and nepotism. Also, while the focus is primarily on former President Trump, Lichtman takes a historian's long view, noting that many of these corrupt practices date back to George Washington's presidency. This additional historical perspective shows that the American ideal has been a constant work in progress, giving hope that our current dilemma might be resolved to positive effect. Lichtman's proffered solutions, however reasonable they may be, however, depend on one of two things happening: either Democrats must remain the majority party, or the Trumpist Republicans have to abandon their obstructionist ways. For Lichtman, hope springs eternal.

American University history professor Lichtman (The Case for Impeachment) identifies in this well-informed if somewhat slapdash account 13 "loopholes" in American democracy that President Trump "ruthlessly" exploited, and offers ideas on how to close them. Noting that major structural reforms, including the establishment of due process rights and the direct election of U.S. senators, have occurred after previous "times of crisis," Lichtman prescribes new laws, organizational changes, and private-sector programs to better protect the "principles of democracy" from a president's "will to power." But the proposed fixes, including the jailing of administration officials who defy Congress's subpoena power, the creation of a special court to hear legal challenges to executive orders, and a constitutional amendment to make Senate representation population-based, don't take the considerable obstacles such reforms would face into consideration. More enlightening are Lichtman's discussions of the ways in which previous presidents laid the groundwork for Trump's more flagrant violations of democratic norms. He notes, for instance, that Abraham Lincoln defied a ruling by Supreme Court chief justice Roger Taney in suspending habeas corpus during the Civil War, and that Federalist Party senators threatened to overturn the results of the 1800 election if John Adams lost. Readers will learn more about the historic fault lines of American democracy than how to repair them. (Nov.)

As America moves into a new era, pundits and scholars are asking how badly American democracy and its institutions have been damaged by Trump and his followers. The answer is: it's serious. Lichtman looks at 13 aspects of American democracy, analyzes how they have been damaged, and then offers reasonable, intelligent advice on how to repair or ameliorate the damage. These subjects include reclaiming truth, policing conflicts of interest, expanding transparency, and stopping cronyism and nepotism. Also, while the focus is primarily on former President Trump, Lichtman takes a historian's long view, noting that many of these corrupt practices date back to George Washington's presidency. This additional historical perspective shows that the American ideal has been a constant work in progress, giving hope that our current dilemma might be resolved to positive effect. Lichtman's proffered solutions, however reasonable they may be, however, depend on one of two things happening: either Democrats must remain the majority party, or the Trumpist Republicans have to abandon their obstructionist ways. For Lichtman, hope springs eternal. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.

American University history professor Lichtman (The Case for Impeachment) identifies in this well-informed if somewhat slapdash account 13 "loopholes" in American democracy that President Trump "ruthlessly" exploited, and offers ideas on how to close them. Noting that major structural reforms, including the establishment of due process rights and the direct election of U.S. senators, have occurred after previous "times of crisis," Lichtman prescribes new laws, organizational changes, and private-sector programs to better protect the "principles of democracy" from a president's "will to power." But the proposed fixes, including the jailing of administration officials who defy Congress's subpoena power, the creation of a special court to hear legal challenges to executive orders, and a constitutional amendment to make Senate representation population-based, don't take the considerable obstacles such reforms would face into consideration. More enlightening are Lichtman's discussions of the ways in which previous presidents laid the groundwork for Trump's more flagrant violations of democratic norms. He notes, for instance, that Abraham Lincoln defied a ruling by Supreme Court chief justice Roger Taney in suspending habeas corpus during the Civil War, and that Federalist Party senators threatened to overturn the results of the 1800 election if John Adams lost. Readers will learn more about the historic fault lines of American democracy than how to repair them. (Nov.)