Democratic Backsliding in the United States and the Role of the Trump Administration

Abstract

This thesis is written with the goal of evaluating the levels of democratic backsliding of the United States of America within the Trump Administration. Largely, this thesis looks at two pivotal time periods in United States history, analyzing different aspects of democratic backsliding that pertain to the political and social landscape that are specific to each time period, and American history as a whole. In researching the secession and Civil War era, as well as the Civil Rights Movement, this thesis draws parallels from these times of turmoil with the present day Trump administration. In figuring out which aspects of democratic backsliding are common throughout the history of the United States, this thesis draws conclusions that can be applied to the present day in order to interpret if the US is on a trajectory of authoritarian shift due to the actions of President Donald Trump and his Administration. There are many different aspects and political definitions around the term democratic backsliding. I aim to analyze these definitions from political scientists and historians in order to view these different settings through multiple lenses. Each of these different eras have had their own reasons and context leading into potential democratic backsliding. This thesis looks at certain instances that show signs of democratic backsliding through the lens of multiple different definitions to dictate whether democratic backsliding was occurring in each era. Ultimately, the secession and Civil War era and the Civil Rights Movement were both times of democratic backsliding, and similarities such as voter suppression, overreaches from the President, crackdowns on peaceful protests, and the rejection of election results can be seen across the different cases. Parallels on the same signs within the Trump Administration were analyzed, concluding that the United States of America is in a current state of democratic backsliding orchestrated by Trump, his supporters, and his administration.