Trump: The Lesser Authoritarian of the Modern Presidency
Since President Donald Trump’s election, he has been accused by many of being a fascist and a potential dictator. While many of his platforms are ill-conceived and his behavior is unpalatable, the criticism that he is more authoritarian than recent presidents is mostly incorrect.
The President of the United States, now the most powerful position on earth, did not always have such a high degree of influence. From Presidents Washington to Hoover, the chief executive was mainly second in power to Congress, save exceptionally influential Presidents such as Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. However, the role of the presidency permanently changed with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who constantly tested and pushed the boundaries of power available to the office.
Since the broadening of presidential power by FDR, modern Presidents have become near-autocrats in their own right, and the system of checks and balances so carefully conceived by the Founding Fathers has been severely weakened. They have, to paraphrase President Obama, a pen and a phone: they can send American troops abroad without congressional approval for 60 days, practically legislate law, and manage the usage of nuclear arms.
Many of the authoritarian criticisms of Donald Trump are absolutely valid. Trump has attacked the media, criticizing many reports as “fake news” seemingly only because he dislikes them. He has lied about his inauguration crowd size. He has made uncomfortably demagogue-like remarks, such as “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” In light of this, many are questioning the honesty of Trump and his administration. But while Trump’s comments are indeed troubling, they seem to stem more from his buffoonery, pettiness, and overzealous Twitter obsession than actual dictatorial motions. He certainly speaks like an authoritarian, but it is important to separate Trump’s speech from the actions and decisions he has actually made.
Despite his penchant for inappropriate and boastful comments, Trump has actually decentralized power. A key example of this is his overturning of Obama’s transgender bathroom order. While Obama’s order was beneficial to the LGBT community, he centralized authority in enacting it. Trump’s overturning of that order took power away from the presidency, and regardless of what your opinions may be on the subject of the transgender bathroom controversy, Trump’s move was more democratic. If Trump were to have mandated that federally-funded institutions enforce a rule that all must use the bathroom of the gender identified on their birth certificate, this would have been an authoritarian move. Instead, Trump relinquished this power by giving the decision to the states.
In respect to another one of Trump’s controversial plans, The New York Post made an excellent point about Trump’s immigration ban. Trump’s immigration ban has indeed been turned down by the Ninth Circuit Court, but Trump did not appeal the issue to the Supreme Court. The Trump Administration is instead currently re-working the plan to seek the circuit court’s approval, staying within current constitutional limits rather than seeking to expand them. Even if this ban is misguided and even racist, it will not be enacted by authoritarian means as Trump will not bypass the legal system.
Many are also worried that Trump’s cabinet members will decrease the scope of their departments, particularly the EPA and the Department of Education. Decreasing the power and responsibility of executive departments is the complete opposite of of authoritarianism. To the opposite effect, a sweeping Federal regulation on education would be authoritarian, as it would divest power from the states and give it to the Federal government. Trump’s cabinet picks have instead indicated a move towards decentralization, which is certainly not what an authoritarian ruler would advocate for.
Trump’s questionable policy goals are not authoritarian just because they have unfortunate political goals. Trump’s administration has not enforced any action outside of what is now understood as the President’s constitutional authority. In fact, Trump’s actions have been less authoritarian than his predecessors.
Even if you agree with the politics of Presidents Bush or Obama, their actions as chief executive were vastly more authoritarian than what Trump has currently demonstrated. Bush and Obama expanded domestic surveillance, both centralized healthcare (in the case of Bush’s Medicare expansion and Obama’s Affordable Care Act), and Obama issued the highest total number of executive orders and memoranda since Jimmy Carter. For as startling as his rhetoric may be, the authoritarian criticisms of Trump have yet to be proven by action. If Trump does indeed follow in the footsteps of his predecessors and seek to expand presidential authority, then America will have much to fear. When a true tyrant does reveal themselves, we have only our complacency in allowing the expansion of executive power to thank.
