The article argues that Donald Trump's presidency is not merely an exogenous shock to U.S. democracy but rather highlights the longstanding erosion of political norms. These norms, essential for democracy, are maintained through social agreement rather than legal definitions. The author emphasizes Trump’s actions, such as his executive orders and changes to immigration policy, signify not just his presidency but an ongoing trend that has been developing over time, suggesting that the danger to democratic stability lies in the weakening of these norms rather than Trump alone.
But look closer, and you will see not a rogue president taking a hammer to a hitherto stable political order, but a history of the erosion of norms that paved the way for him.
Political norms are the scaffolding of democracy, enforced not by the law, but by a sort of social consensus. They are not codified, strict mechanisms for regulating political facts...
Knock the norms down and everything changes. Trump's very purpose is to knock them down, but in some ways, he is only accelerating a process that had already started.
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