Donald Trump and the Need to Elevate Procedure Over Substance

At Least We Got a Tax Cut

Look, I understand why a lot of Republicans are willing to put up with Trump.  They like his policies.  He cuts taxes (especially at the top), guts regulations and appoints conservative federal judges.  Also he is anti-immigration, which is his core appeal for some Republicans and distasteful for others, but well worth cutting taxes, gutting regulations, and appointing conservative federal judges.  It is hard to get too upset about his disregard for democratic norms and the rule of law when playing fast and loose with the rules is being done in favor of policies you like.  It is easy to dismiss such things as mere trifles in aesthetics and not matters of substance.

But that just goes to confirm what I have commented before.  Democracy is hard.

Democracy is really not as easy or natural as we have been taught to assume. It values procedure over substance. It demands obedience to leaders who are chosen by the right procedure (i.e, who win the election), regardless of how loathsome their values or policies may be to us. It expects us to treat abstract procedural details, such as federalism or separation of powers, as more important than the actual merits of what policy to adopt. It insists that we respect the rights of people we despise (sometimes deservedly). 

 Democracy is best seen as an uneasy compromise between dictatorship by our side (the best option) and dictatorship by their side (the worst option).  It is instead a framework that allows each side a roughly equal opportunity at holding power and ensures that whoever loses can live to fight another day. 

Maintaining democracy requires all parties to respect the basic framework, even if they lose under it, and to recognize that policy differences and even policy defeats are are a normal and acceptable part of the democratic process, and are no cause for concern, so long as all parties respect the procedural framework. And yes, some disputes about even the procedural framework are normal and acceptable, and yes, all sides tend to be hypocritical on these issues, favoring whatever advances their partisan and policy goals.  But in a healthy democracy such disputes are around the edges, and all parties respect the basic structure and become alarmed at anyone who does not, even if they benefit in the short run.  Because in the long run the other party may come to power and you may reap what you have sown.

This is something that all of us have to remember.  It means that liberals should not accept that Never Trump conservatives will not adopt all our policy preferences, will continue to agree with Republicans on many policy matters and that that is normal and acceptable.

It means that Never Trumpers accept that Democrats in power will have higher taxes, higher spending, more regulations, more liberal judges, and a wimpier foreign policy* than they like.  But we have survived these policies before and will survive them again. 

And it means explaining to Trump supporters that no, he is not a normal President, and no, this is not just a matter of obnoxious tweets or aesthetic revulsion.  It is the sense that Donald Trump has no concept of our basic democratic framework, that he is acting as if it doesn't even exist, and that he is slowly destroying it as a result. And yes, I do understand that nothing disastrous has happened, and yes, I had feared much worse.  But even if nothing disastrous has happened, make no mistake, our basic procedural framework is being destroyed, and the long run damage is and will be very real.


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*Never Trumpers tend to be national security conservatives who have always found wimpy foreign policy to be their biggest deal-breaker.  But given the choice between wimpy foreign policy and a President whose loyalty they doubt, they will accept the wimp.