American "Democracy" From 1787 Through Today

Our current president is considered to be a “threat to democracy,” but is he?

One argument is that he undermines democracy by not representing all people. President Trump is often criticized for his disregard of marginalized and minority groups with claims that he contradicts the American ideal of ‘we the people.’ Despite popular belief, Trump is actually aligned with the views and actions of the framers of the Constitution. The framers did not build a nation for everyone. Instead, they built a nation which mainly benefitted themselves and those like them: wealthy, white men. ‘We the people’ was not originally intended to be inclusive. Therefore, the foundation of America was fundamentally undemocratic in the sense that marginalized and minority groups are underrepresented and underserved. The practice of politicians being undemocratic began with the construction of the Constitution and continues today.

Another argument is that he undermines democracy by abusing his power. In two significant instances, the validity of Trump’s actions have been put into question: the Mueller Report (exposing Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election) and Bolton’s book of manuscripts (exposing Ukraine’s research of Trump’s opposing candidates). During the Mueller report, Trump tried to put his executive power to use by stopping the investigation altogether. This is clearly undemocratic as it would grant him absolute control rather than allowing the American people, and their elected representatives, to obtain this control. In addition, Trump has formally threatened Bolton to stop him from publishing his book of manuscripts. Once again, Trump is abusing his power and not giving it to the American people as democracy claims. Additionally, in both cases, he has been exonerated even though many of his affiliates have been imprisoned or found guilty for their actions; the president has yet to be found guilty for any of these accusations. However, this is not the first instance in which the idea of democracy has been undermined. As the framers of the Constitution compromised over various laws and political structures, they abused their power to get what they wanted. Democratic values were sometimes lost.

A prominent compromise which came out of the Constitutional Convention was the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a compromise between large and small states in determining how the size of states would affect their political power in the presidential election. The electoral college allows for a candidate to lose the popular vote, but win the presidency - a complete violation of democracy. Trump won the election due to the Electoral College. In the 2016 presidential election between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3,000,000, yet Trump won the electoral votes by 74. The president should be directly representative of the wants and needs of the general population, not those of state electors. In addition, campaigning is skewed due to the fact that candidates will truly only pay attention to the needs of swing states; they will not waste their time trying to win over a state which already supports them. This means that the majority of the nation is not paid attention to because there are minimal swing states: another form of inequality. While the intentions of the electoral college were democratic in the sense that small states should still be paid attention to, the execution of the process leaves many voiceless. The electoral college contradicts the democratic values of justice and equality because only few truly have an influence in the presidential race.

Trump is a “threat to democracy,” but the practice of undermining democracy was instilled in the nation as the framers built America. In order for real change to occur, people cannot passively watch politics, but rather question leaders and the American democracy as a whole.