Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin - Helsinki July 2018 Most people cannot wrap their heads around the possibility that Trump and the Republican Party will, if able, transform this country’s democracy into another form of government. Just as most people could not fathom Trump being a Russian asset, they continue to justify his actions as idiosyncratic or personal deficiencies rather than purposeful plans. Of course, Helsinki forced some people to reconsider Trump’s assault on NATO and the European Alliance as strategic acts in Putin’s service. Still, too many people continue to frame his actions as only personal deficiencies rather acts in service of a more strategic purpose.
Many people consider Trump’s lies, accusations of “fake news,” and attacks on institutions like the FBI to be public relations ploys. According to these people, Trump merely intends to mute the criminal allegations Robert Mueller’s investigation will undoubtedly produce. But it is possible that Trump, his coterie, and the Republican Party are implementing a plan to end our democracy as we know it.
While our form of representative democracy is at one end of a continuum and authoritarianism is at the other end, there is a least one other in the middle. Delegative democracy, a transitional form, maintains all the trappings of a representative democracy except separation of powers. Government officials, including the President, may be elected, but the courts and Congress yield or delegate their power to the President. And although the President, may only serve his or her elected term, they exercise nearly complete power while in office. Some conservative scholars have already claimed the Constitution nearly envisions this form of government under the legal rubric of the “unitary executive.”
Many people consider Trump’s lies, accusations of “fake news,” and attacks on institutions like the FBI to be public relations ploys. According to these people, Trump merely intends to mute the criminal allegations Robert Mueller’s investigation will undoubtedly produce. But it is possible that Trump, his coterie, and the Republican Party are implementing a plan to end our democracy as we know it.
While our form of representative democracy is at one end of a continuum and authoritarianism is at the other end, there is a least one other in the middle. Delegative democracy, a transitional form, maintains all the trappings of a representative democracy except separation of powers. Government officials, including the President, may be elected, but the courts and Congress yield or delegate their power to the President. And although the President, may only serve his or her elected term, they exercise nearly complete power while in office. Some conservative scholars have already claimed the Constitution nearly envisions this form of government under the legal rubric of the “unitary executive.”
Trump and the current Republican Party, however, are not relying on the unitary executive theory. They are moving to remove Presidential accountability from the Congress, judiciary, and Justice Department. Because the Republicans who are in the majority in the Congress have only minimally opposed the President, they have ceded their power to him. Both the House and the Senate have allowed Trump to impose tariffs on various countries, including Canada, under national security provisions. When some Senators proposed curbing those tariffs because of their economic harm to U.S. citizens, they were unable to get support from their colleagues.
Congressman Devin Nunes Representative Nunes was recorded on an audio tape, suggesting that the Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of a potential conspiracy between the President and Russia, would be fired once Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court Kavanaugh was confirmed. On the tape, we hear Nunes say that the purpose in firing Rosenstein would be to save Trump from the outcome of the investigation. Also, the confirmation of Kavanaugh would help ensure that the Supreme Court would rule in Trump’s favor in any upcoming disputes.
 Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein |  Special Counsel Robert Mueller |  Judge Brett Kavanaugh |
Also, Trump is removing accountability from the Department of Justice (DOJ) by refusing to be interviewed by the Special Counsel. Special Counsel Mueller has been unable to reach an agreement for interviewing the President despite eight months of negotiation with the President’s lawyer. It appears that the President’s legal team is attempting to delay a subpoena from the Special Counsel until after the Senate confirms Kavanaugh or the midterm elections are over. Senator Lindsey Graham reported that Trump has frequently commented about firing Mueller, indicating that he may fire the Special Prosecutor after the election. If he does, he will certainly not face any repercussions from the Supreme Court, which he will then control. And unless the Democrats win control of at least the House of Representatives, he will not face any challenges from Congress. (Numerically, it will be difficult for Democrats to win control of the Senate, although not impossible.)
Although voters will still exercise “vertical accountability” over the President, the Congress, judiciary, and DOJ will lack “horizontal accountability.” Vertical accountability provides less oversight because it is less immediate and less granular than horizontal. Thus, delegative democracies are more likely to evolve into authoritarianism than representative democracy. One of Trump’s only observable skills is lying and distorting people’s understanding of truth. This effective gas lighting is likely to weaken the power of the mislead voters.
Unless Democrats win control of the House, there will be no true separation of powers and Trump will not be horizontally accountable to any other branch of government. And the chaos and corruption we have seen so far in the Trump administration will likely be exponentially increased.
Although voters will still exercise “vertical accountability” over the President, the Congress, judiciary, and DOJ will lack “horizontal accountability.” Vertical accountability provides less oversight because it is less immediate and less granular than horizontal. Thus, delegative democracies are more likely to evolve into authoritarianism than representative democracy. One of Trump’s only observable skills is lying and distorting people’s understanding of truth. This effective gas lighting is likely to weaken the power of the mislead voters.
Unless Democrats win control of the House, there will be no true separation of powers and Trump will not be horizontally accountable to any other branch of government. And the chaos and corruption we have seen so far in the Trump administration will likely be exponentially increased.