Good overview, but what would an alternative strategy to enable the correction of undermined liberal democratic institutions by ideologically captured extremists look like ? This is particularly relevant in the legal and academic fraternities who are both severely out of step with the people they supposedly serve. What could Trump have done that would have been both effective and less authoritarian ?
Good question. The essay does not argue the diagnosis was wrong. Bureaucracies lacked democratic accountability. Universities had been captured by ideological orthodoxy. Activist judges had overreached. These are legitimate grievances – and I wrote separately about the universities problem for Quadrant, arguing the administration got the diagnosis right but the prescription dangerously wrong.
The Constitution provides tools for all of this. Congress can legislate. The Senate confirms judges – and Trump's judicial appointments will be his most durable achievement precisely because they went through the constitutional process. Regulatory agencies can be reined in by legislation rather than subordinated by executive order.
The irony is that Trump had the congressional majorities to do much of this legislatively. He chose not to. Executive orders are faster. They are also reversible, contestable, and – as the tariffs ruling showed – can be unconstitutional when they bypass Congress.
The distinction matters because it determines what survives. Reform through institutions strengthens the system for every successor. Reform over them weakens it – and hands the same unchecked tools to the next president, who may not share your values or mine.
Yes I agree. We had a clear example of what you describe in how many Ardern policies have been unceremoniously rolled back ( and rightly so ). In NZ our politicians have clear executive powers expressed through a simple majority vote in parliament - but thats not the same as those changes sticking long term.
ref. 'parallels with NZ': the last two years of Arden's disastrous "regime" were a shocking reminder of how quickly a bubble induced 'emergency' can lead to strict authoritarianism with hair-rising punitive actions taken against people who do not comply with unwarranted orders.
It is beyond me that firstly any sane human being who was the executing minister at the time (yes, Mr Hipkins) would have the audacity to aspire to another prime minster's position and secondly that anybody would give him a vote.
Must be that 'cost of living' outperforms for public concern in NZ as it does in the US, while personal freedom and democracy remain theoretical concepts...until they are lost.
Everywhere, the remedy lies in the hands of the voters but not at triennial elections for the baubles of office but rather through a new citizen-owned and citizens-initiated referenda process. Don't worry. I am working on second stage- market penetration, - commenced.
Renee Nicole Good was from out of state, was not a person of good character, her children had been taken into care, she went to cause problems, disobeyed orders.
Alex Pretti had previous interaction with the customs enforcement agents, a week previously he had interacted with agents and been subdued, he then turned up armed with two loaded magazines, he was ready for action. Both probably got what they deserved
This article deserves a wide readership, particularly in the US.
The reference to the “Friday Night Massacre” is parody when compared to its inspiration, being the ‘Saturday Night Massacre’ when Robert Bork acting as Solicitor General fired Special Prosecutor Cox in 1973 during the Watergate investigation, after the Attorney General and a Deputy AG refused to do so at Nixon’s command and resigned: this heavy handedness contributed to Nixon’s downfall. How times have changed- it seems a petty tyrant can now have his way any night of the week, in what now is the land of the unfree ruled by the White House of the Knave.
Good overview, but what would an alternative strategy to enable the correction of undermined liberal democratic institutions by ideologically captured extremists look like ? This is particularly relevant in the legal and academic fraternities who are both severely out of step with the people they supposedly serve. What could Trump have done that would have been both effective and less authoritarian ?
Good question. The essay does not argue the diagnosis was wrong. Bureaucracies lacked democratic accountability. Universities had been captured by ideological orthodoxy. Activist judges had overreached. These are legitimate grievances – and I wrote separately about the universities problem for Quadrant, arguing the administration got the diagnosis right but the prescription dangerously wrong.
The Constitution provides tools for all of this. Congress can legislate. The Senate confirms judges – and Trump's judicial appointments will be his most durable achievement precisely because they went through the constitutional process. Regulatory agencies can be reined in by legislation rather than subordinated by executive order.
The irony is that Trump had the congressional majorities to do much of this legislatively. He chose not to. Executive orders are faster. They are also reversible, contestable, and – as the tariffs ruling showed – can be unconstitutional when they bypass Congress.
The distinction matters because it determines what survives. Reform through institutions strengthens the system for every successor. Reform over them weakens it – and hands the same unchecked tools to the next president, who may not share your values or mine.
Yes I agree. We had a clear example of what you describe in how many Ardern policies have been unceremoniously rolled back ( and rightly so ). In NZ our politicians have clear executive powers expressed through a simple majority vote in parliament - but thats not the same as those changes sticking long term.
Brilliantly written!
ref. 'parallels with NZ': the last two years of Arden's disastrous "regime" were a shocking reminder of how quickly a bubble induced 'emergency' can lead to strict authoritarianism with hair-rising punitive actions taken against people who do not comply with unwarranted orders.
It is beyond me that firstly any sane human being who was the executing minister at the time (yes, Mr Hipkins) would have the audacity to aspire to another prime minster's position and secondly that anybody would give him a vote.
Must be that 'cost of living' outperforms for public concern in NZ as it does in the US, while personal freedom and democracy remain theoretical concepts...until they are lost.
Everywhere, the remedy lies in the hands of the voters but not at triennial elections for the baubles of office but rather through a new citizen-owned and citizens-initiated referenda process. Don't worry. I am working on second stage- market penetration, - commenced.
Renee Nicole Good was from out of state, was not a person of good character, her children had been taken into care, she went to cause problems, disobeyed orders.
Alex Pretti had previous interaction with the customs enforcement agents, a week previously he had interacted with agents and been subdued, he then turned up armed with two loaded magazines, he was ready for action. Both probably got what they deserved
This article deserves a wide readership, particularly in the US.
The reference to the “Friday Night Massacre” is parody when compared to its inspiration, being the ‘Saturday Night Massacre’ when Robert Bork acting as Solicitor General fired Special Prosecutor Cox in 1973 during the Watergate investigation, after the Attorney General and a Deputy AG refused to do so at Nixon’s command and resigned: this heavy handedness contributed to Nixon’s downfall. How times have changed- it seems a petty tyrant can now have his way any night of the week, in what now is the land of the unfree ruled by the White House of the Knave.
Once again you have hit the nail on the head.
Any parallels with NZ?