How is democracy hijacked? Viktor Orban, the strongman of Hungary, has shown the way, emulating Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Elected on a wave of fear and discontent, Orban attacked and undermined the media, the judiciary, civil society, the rule of law, and the protection of minority rights, consolidating his power by appealing to xenophobic extremism.
Orban is a forerunner of Donald Trump. He has used the European refugee crisis to stir up anti-Muslim sentiment, foreshadowing Trump’s pandering to the white supremacists and purveyors of hate whom he has thrust into the center of American politics.
Seven months into his presidency, Trump looks like an Orban mimic. He’s labeled journalists “enemies of the people’’ and assaulted the mainstream media as purveyors of “fake news’’; challenged the independence of the judiciary and smeared the integrity of judges; attacked civil society by claiming massive voter fraud; presided over an increase in racism and hate crimes; and abused the power of the presidency by pressing the FBI to drop an investigation of his former national security adviser, then firing the FBI director for investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the presidential election.
Democracy in the United States may be more resilient than in Hungary, but Trump’s instability may make him more dangerous than Orban.
The US Constitution provides a framework for containing presidential abuses of power. It has worked in other recent cases. Richard Nixon used government law enforcement and intelligence agencies to violate civil liberties, but the House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach him and the federal courts held him responsible for his abuses. George W. Bush introduced the use of torture in the “war on terror,’’ but he was resisted by government officials inside the Pentagon, and later by Congress and the courts.
In contrast to Hungary, the United States has a decentralized, multilayered governance system that’s difficult to control from Washington. The system has resisted some of Trump’s abusive initiatives. State attorneys general have challenged the president’s executive order banning travel to the United States by citizens from Muslim countries. Cities have offered sanctuary to the refugees and migrants Trump is trying to deport. States are sticking with — and carrying forward — the standards of the Paris climate treaty.
The federal judiciary has been a source of resistance. Trump’s anti-Muslim travel ban was invalidated by five federal courts and judges appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents, and the Supreme Court has blocked implementation of the ban for travelers who have a “bona fide relationship with any person or entity in the United States.’’
There has also been resistance in the federal bureaucracy. Former FBI director James Comey refused to follow the president’s directive to terminate the FBI investigation of the president’s former national security adviser.
There’s room for resistance in Congress, which has the constitutional authority to investigate presidential abuses of power and conduct impeachment proceedings.
The media are a critical strength of American democracy. Trump’s attacks on the mainstream media may appeal to his base, but they have galvanized the press.
The United States has a robust civil society. Alexis de Tocqueville pointed out two centuries ago that Americans make up for their skepticism about government with their commitment to civic engagement.
These democratic assets were not available in Hungary to prevent the hijacking of democracy. But are they enough to defend democracy in the United States against an unstable and deeply antidemocratic president like Donald Trump? In the crises over racist extremism and North Korea, Trump has exhibited a nearly infinite capacity to inflict damage on US domestic and international security.
A Reichstag-like event could light the fuse. On Feb. 27, 1933, the German parliament building was set ablaze in a spectacular act of terror that gave Hitler the opportunity he was seeking to round up his enemies, suspend civil liberties, and declare a state of emergency that remained in effect throughout the Third Reich.
An attack by or on North Korea, or a major domestic or international terrorist attack in the United States, could create a climate of fear that a weakened and unstable president like Donald Trump might seek to exploit. In response, all available democratic assets must be deployed to resist any attempt to hijack American democracy.
John Shattuck, former assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, is senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and professor of practice in diplomacy at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
