Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump holds the Bible during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Monday. Morry Gash/Associated Press
Donald Trump is the messenger of a new era in the American political system. His first election in 2016 signaled the change and his 2024 election confirmed it.
From the outset, the U.S. was a conservative country that had taken the radical step of declaring its independence. Even after the Civil War, it remained a country run by an elite and dominated by a belief in individualism. The government’s role was limited.
After the near collapse of the economy in the Great Depression, the U.S. entered a second era of its political history. The private economy and the free market had proved unable to meet the needs of millions of unemployed and the needy. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt led a transformation of the government into an active source of aid and innovation.
Under his New Deal, the American system placed increased emphasis on common action through government. While individual freedom continued as a cornerstone of American life, a sense of community became the theme of this new phase.
The Depression was succeeded by World War II, a conflict between the Allies, headed by Roosevelt, and the Axis, headed by Adolf Hitler. Dictatorships sought to ruthlessly crush neighboring countries. A coalition of democracies and others, including the Soviet Union, fought back.
The victory of the democracies confirmed the role of popularly elected governments that would operate social systems designed to provide support to the aged, health care, regulation to limit corporate excess and environmental protection. Some countries, led by the U.S., continued to maintain large military forces to ensure peace.
Many people believed that the growth of the community interest, expressed through an enlarged government, represented a permanent change in the political system. They expected that the system would develop further with wide public support.
But the post-war world of common action against war and the growth of governmental services and actions, which formed the basis of what came to be known as liberal democracy, began to run their course. The peacekeeping hopes inherent in organizations like the U.N. or the European Union melted. Russia’s Vladimir Putin acted like the earlier aggressive dictators.
At the same time, many people worried that growing governments were becoming less responsive to their needs. In the U.S., Europe and elsewhere, conservative political movements began to displace, somewhat by surprise, liberal democratic leaders and governments.
Donald Trump caught that wave and exploited it to his personal advantage. Despite his controversial style, he finally gained the support of a majority of American voters. While his approach departs from political norms, he represents the third phase of political history, restoring conservatism and trying to unravel liberal democracy.
The Democrats, associated more with a sense of community rather than pure individualism, appear to be bewildered by the change. Their leaders are either stunned into silence or excessively analyze their tactical errors in last year’s elections. They miss the underlying political change.
Liberal democracy may have to give up the prospect of a simple post-Trump restoration. Instead, it may have to reorient its policies. Recovering the concept of government pursuing the greatest good for the greatest number makes sense, depending on the definition of “good” and the ability to pay for it. It must include protecting the inherent natural rights of every person.
The Democrats would do well to develop a realistic, unified and focused policy platform and to get that job done soon. They could then contrast their agenda with Trump policies that benefit select groups. That would be a good start. Merely attempting to restore an earlier era could fail.
This post was originally published on here
