Law school dean: We should all be very worried about the fate of our democracy | Opinion

I fear for the future of American democracy. This is not simply a reaction to the Nov. 5 election, but a serious worry that I have had for several years; indeed, in August, I published a book on the subject. No Democracy lives forever.

Low trust in government

American government has lost the faith of the people. The Pew Research Trust has been doing an annual survey of confidence in government since 1958. Public confidence was at its highest point in 1964, with 77% of people expressing the view that the federal government can be trusted. In the most recent survey Pew survey in October, public confidence in the federal government is at 22%. A survey by the Partnership in Leadership in 2024 had only 23% of those surveyed saying that they trust the federal government, while 63% said they did not.

A 2024 Gallup poll showed only 19% of respondents expressing approval for Congress, and the Supreme Court has its lowest approval ratings in history — with only 35% expressing confidence in the courts — reflecting one of the largest declines the report says it has ever measured. This was before the recent revelation that former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, briefly a nominee to be the nation’s next attorney general, had sex with a minor and frequently used illegal drugs.

Presidential election

There are many explanations for the results in the November elections. Most of all, I believe it’s that people are very dissatisfied with the government and want drastic change. Donald Trump was the candidate for change, while Kamala Harris was perceived as the “status quo” candidate.

But I worry greatly that a Trump administration that includes leaders of questionable qualifications — Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as secretary of health and human services, Kash Patel as director of the FBI — will hardly increase confidence in government. A presidency that seems intent on disrupting the operation of the federal government is not likely to restore public trust. Even before assuming office, Trump almost succeeded in shutting down the federal government.

At the same time, the country is more politically divided than it has been at any time since Reconstruction. An August 2024 Gallup study unsurprisingly concluded that “the political landscape in the United States is highly polarized.” Other studies show that national polarization is increasing faster here than in other countries and that members of Congress are further apart ideologically than ever before.

This deep divide is reflected in the very close outcome of the November election: Trump received 77,297,721 votes, or 49.9%, and Harris received, 75,009,338 votes, or 48.4%. A difference of just over 2 million votes out of 152 million cast is not a mandate for anything.

Trump’s divisive presidency

It is hard to imagine that the Trump presidency will lessen the partisan divide. His public statements and his Cabinet picks indicate that he is likely to govern from the far right.

What, then, is the fate of American democracy if the government further loses the faith of the people and if the country’s partisan divide grows? No one knows. But the experience of other countries where democracies have died provides a basis for great concern. Nations such as Hungary, Turkey and India are far less democratic than they used to be.

It is frightening that some Republicans, including Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, say they want to emulate Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, rather than denounce his autocratic rule.

My ideal, faint hope is that Trump will try to unify the country. I wish he would pick some Democrats for his Cabinet, avoid the most divisive policies and look, instead, for ones with bipartisan support. That, though, is asking for the impossible.

Perhaps we can hope that other branches of government will be cognizant of the need to restore public trust in our institutions. The Supreme Court has had a significant loss of confidence because of ethics issues surrounding some of the justices. This is a self-inflicted wound that can be remedied if justices adhere to the same ethical standards followed by all other judges and through the creation of an enforcement mechanism for the code of ethics that it promulgated in 2023.

Members of Congress must recognize that their institution has lost public trust. They need to pursue an agenda of bipartisanship and effective government, even if the president tries to divide them.

The stakes are enormously high: Democracies do not die all at once. But no form of government lasts forever, and, as 2024 comes to a close, we should all be very worried about the fate of our democracy.

This story was originally published December 24, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Law school dean: We should all be very worried about the fate of our democracy | Opinion."