The Power We Don't Use
I have just finished an unfortunately relevant book, How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. Their in-depth analysis of the road to authoritarianism directly references the norm breaking actions of the Trump administration and how it has harmed our institutions. While neither party is innocent, their work shows the republican party taking large steps to undermine democracy and secure their power over the will of the people. In functioning democracies, the actions of those in power to ensure the survival of the institutions are marked by two general practices: mutual tolerance and institutional forbearance. The first is more self-explanatory. A democracy is a political system based on compromise and cooperation; all parties will need to work together at some point. Institutional forbearance is more complicated and the subject of this piece. There are many weapons in the arsenal of elected officials, great and small, that can be used against...