What Works to Protect Democracy
Citizen activism, legal resistance, and public discontent—not lofty ideals alone—are the strongest defenses of democracy against leaders who harm those they claim to serve.
By Jeremi Suri
This is the most perilous moment for democracy in my lifetime. President Donald Trump is hostile to any limits on his power. He is trying to rule by decree, signing new executive orders each week that close down departments created by Congress, contradict rights protected by the Constitution, and target his perceived adversaries, including leading law firms and universities. Trump is trying to enforce personal loyalty over freedom and justice in every part of American society. Elected Republican officials are largely going along, defending his repressive, illegal activities and then saying nothing when abuses, such as illegal deportations, are exposed.
But Trump is failing, and he knows it. By every measure, his popularity is plummeting faster than any recent president in his first one hundred days. The federal offices he is closing are not saving money, and his own voters are starting to miss the necessary services. The economy is in a tailspin with the stock market down six percent since he took office, prices rising, and foreign investment leaving the United States. Overseas, the president is not finding any of the easy deals he promised to end the war in Ukraine, bring peace to the Middle East, or improve relations with China. His on-again, off-again tariff threats have weakened America’s trading position and boosted China’s influence around the world. And Beijing shows no signs of giving Trump any concessions.
Trump’s policy failures offer some protection to our democracy because they expose his incompetence. Although he knows how to make scary threats, he does not know how to follow through strategically. When he lashes out, he harms himself as much as others. His threats unite his targets, whether foreign countries or universities, in opposition to him. History shows that empires are built by dividing and conquering enemies; Trump makes new enemies every day, and he gives them little choice but to resist him together. Think about Canada, Mexico, Europe, China, and Japan now working cooperatively against his tariffs, and Harvard University bringing rival schools together to sue the administration for attempted extortion. Trump has shocked his targets into coordinated, courageous resistance.
Federal and state judges have also limited Trump’s damage to our democracy. As of April 25, there were 122 court rulings that paused policies pursued by the Trump administration, and more cases are pending. Judges appointed by both Democrats and Republicans have turned back Trump’s efforts to deny birthright citizenship, halt funding for ongoing government programs, deport immigrants without due process, interfere in elections, and other attempted atrocities. The administration has shown contempt for court rulings, and it appears to have violated court orders halting some deportations, but it generally does not want to be seen as acting illegally. That would open the door for more resistance, and it would limit the administration’s efforts to use the courts against its opponents. As frustrated as Trump is by the legal system, he needs the authority of the courts for his own goals, so judges have leverage over him. They are using it.
What has proven most effective, however, is the activism and engagement of citizens. Trump does not care about the welfare of citizens, but he does care about how they view him. He knows his popularity is the main source of his power. He can rely on a core group of supporters, maybe thirty percent of the public, who will stick with him in almost all circumstances. He can also count on about the same number to oppose him in almost all circumstances. What Trump needs to keep his power is the consent of about a third of the electorate who might not like him, but are not intent on stopping him, until now.
When farmers, small business owners, factory workers, police officers, and veterans express their anger, it matters to Trump. He knows he needs them. He fears their opposition, which they are starting to voice. These are the people hurt by tariff uncertainty, federal funding cuts, and a plummeting economy. They rely on government services, from federally supported loans to health care coverage. They also depend on stability and consistency in government. As Trump has thrown American society into chaos, the “ordinary Americans” who supported and tolerated him are showing buyers’ remorse.
That is the best bulwark for democracy. I wish everyone defended democracy because they recognized it was the most just and free form of government. I wish everyone cared about principles, rights, and fairness. Trump’s elections show us that protecting democracy does not move most voters. What does move voters, however, is the desire for a government that addresses their needs. Republicans and Democrats want their social security checks, they want to run their businesses, and they want to afford groceries each week. In his first three months, Trump’s actions have run against these public desires, and citizens are making their discontent clear in polls, town halls, public demonstrations, and daily conversations. Trump has become harder for anyone but the true believers to defend.
How can we protect democracy? We must, of course, continue to defend principles and support people and institutions that courageously resist illegal executive actions. More important, however, might be the work we all must do to explain to ordinary Americans how Trump’s policies are harming them, even those who voted for him.
We must empathize with the millions of Americans struggling to keep their heads above water. They don’t want to hear about democracy, even though they care. They want to understand why they are falling farther behind. We need to explain how tariffs raise their prices, how cuts in federal services harm their families, and how economic mismanagement hurts their jobs and businesses. We need to connect with angry, disgruntled citizens by helping them to make sense of their condition through conversations that are filled with goodwill, not “told you so” condescension.
We must admit that Democrats do not have the answers for what to do next. Over the past two decades, Democrats have failed to help many of the citizens struggling today, and those citizens will not believe that the party has magically found better policies in its resistance to Trump. What the president’s critics can offer, with some persuasion, is honesty about what is failing now and a commitment to stop the bleeding. Democracy does not guarantee good policy, but it offers the opportunity to correct course when a leader is driving the country into disaster.
That is the best case for democracy today. Although we don’t have magic medicines, we can diagnose what is making us sicker and reverse those behaviors. We can try to do no harm, as we figure out what to do next. Democracy is a compelling protection against mad men hurting us all.
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Jeremi Suri holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a professor in the University's Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Professor Suri is the author and editor of eleven books on politics and foreign policy, most recently: Civil War By Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy. His other books include: The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office; Liberty’s Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building from the Founders to Obama; Henry Kissinger and the American Century; and Power and Protest: Global Revolution and the Rise of Détente. His writings appear in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, Atlantic, Newsweek, Time, Wired, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and other media. Professor Suri is a popular public lecturer and comments frequently on radio and television news. His writing and teaching have received numerous prizes, including the President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Texas and the Pro Bene Meritis Award for Contributions to the Liberal Arts. Professor Suri hosts a weekly podcast, “This is Democracy.”
Sound, plain-spoken wisdom. "... conversations that are filled with goodwill, not “told you so” condescension." So important.
This captures the heart of it. Democracy’s strength is not its infallibility but its ability to correct itself. Honest persuasion, not shaming, is what rebuilds broken trust. We protect democracy best not with slogans, but with humility and patient repair.