- basic thesis: - The United States of America is a democracy in decline. At moments of its inception, it has faced ebbs and flows in resisting authoritarianism and subversive elements in its democratic institutions, this is all of course natural. Trust in institutions depend on the states ability in handling crisis’ and the **perception*** of strength, integrity, and honor within the state bureaucracy as well as its democratic institutions. - basic body - The Trump administration actively tried to undermine the transition of power. - The Trump administration devised a plan to prevent succession and undermine the constitution - Trump actively lied about election fraud to create a pretext to his legal cases - Republicans have been compliant with Trump despite their initial condemnation of January 6th. They believed initially that Trump was responsible and during Trumps impeachment hearings, many said so but refused to impeach on the basis that Trump was not in office anymore and that he would be held accountable through criminal court. They have then subsequently walk backed those statements once they realized that they can get away with it. - Large sections of the Republican party explicitly believe that Trump won the 2020 election as a result of Democratic election fraud. - [Among Trump voters](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/01/15/voters-reflections-on-the-2020-election/), 40% say he “definitely” won and another 36% say he “probably” won the election. Only 7% of Trump voters concede that Biden definitely won the 2020 election, while another 15% say he probably won. Biden voters nearly unanimously believe their candidate won. - Trump is attempting to undermine ourv democratic institutions during his presidency. He is [establishing a board to purge](https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/trump-draft-executive-order-would-create-board-to-purge-generals-7ebaa606) oppositional generals who would be hesistant or resistant to go with his plans - threatened to appoint a partisan Attorney General and appoint Cabinet members through special appointments rather than through the constitutional process, in order to maintain his Cabinet having full legal power. - basic solution - Obstruct Republicans attempts to subvert rule of law - Mitigate the damage of spending cuts and tax cuts - Support legal activist organizations such as the ACLU to prevent the - basic conclusion - American democracy is under threat