Dangerous cracks in US democracy pillars
www.brookings.edu
The pillars of U.S. democracy—free elections, the rule of law, and anti-corruption efforts—face threats under the new Trump administration.
  • Three of the seven pillars of democracy laid out in the Democracy Playbook 2025—protect elections, defend rule of law, and fight corruption—have been put under acute stress by the actions of the new Trump administration.
  • While there have been resistance efforts from across sectors, such as civil society organizations, media, and state officials, there is a need and opportunity for more efforts to preserve and strengthen the cracking pillars of democracy.
  • J.tek@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    68·
    4 days ago

    Nothing will change until their necks are cut/swinging. Protests have been neutered completely. The rule of law holds no comfort.

    Ace the King and Jack. The rest will fold.

    • xyzzy@lemm.ee
      10·
      4 days ago

      Smaller protests have a purpose: meeting likeminded citizens and building your network. This may become very relevant in the future.

      People can also be pushed to open their eyes when protests are frequent and grow in size over time. When 10 million people are in the streets, that’s enough momentum to really change things.

      And if we’re just talking about sheer numbers, 10,000 people were enough to overwhelm Capitol security, and only about 2,000 people entered the building. I’m making no comment about whether or not that’s desirable, just that people tend to overestimate the number of people required to be effective.

      • Boomer Humor Doomergod@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8·
        4 days ago

        Millions of people in the streets did not stop the second Iraq war, and all the pussy hats in the world didn’t keep Trump out of office.

        Maybe the protests should be more REDACTED

        • xyzzy@lemm.ee
          3·
          4 days ago

          Too small (domestically).

          The biggest Iraq War protest in the US (global protests don’t matter for US policy) saw around 2% of the population turn out. If you were around at the time, you’ll recall the war was relatively popular in the US at first, although the protests did help influence public sentiment.

          The 2017 women’s march had even less participation, around 1-1.5%.

          You need around 3.5-5% to get real results.

          I’m under no illusion the protests on Monday will make a difference in the short term. If they get large enough, they can begin to influence public sentiment. But if there’s a major shock to the public psyche (something big enough to jar the people who don’t follow the news awake), it means organizers at all levels will be prepared and ready to go.

      • anomnom@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        4·
        4 days ago

        Trump also refused to defend the capital with national guard, the same ones they used to fuck up the black lives matter protesters back in the summer when they wanted an upside down bible photo op.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
      131·
      4 days ago

      Protests have been neutered completely.

      Not quite; many have simply forgotten (or more accurately been made to forget) what it means to protest. You gotta put a lot more energy into it than just standing around for a few hours and maybe blocking traffic if you want non-marginal results. Modern protests in America simply don’t have the juice. For another example look at how the French do it.