(Part 1 of a 4-part series)

America was conceived as a country of limited government. We rejected monarchy and authoritarian rule, and instead chose to distribute power among three branches: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.  Our Constitution also established a set of checks and balances to ensure that each branch stays within its lane.  We asked our elected representatives to “govern” in the best interests of the people. We chose negotiation and compromise rather than allowing factions to impose their will on each other and the people.  We abhorred the prospect of one person making, interpreting, and executing the laws.  Simply put, dictatorial and authoritarian rule is antithetical to the democracy created by our Founding Fathers.

Given our democracy’s Constitutional foundations, a critical question arises: To what extremes should politicians and their political parties be allowed to go to win office and seize control of government?  In today’s divided America it’s clear that “governing” or “compromise” is an anathema.  Instead, each side seems bent on winning office and imposing its policy agenda through any means possible.

The obsession with winning and controlling has expanded ominously beyond using over-the-top partisan rhetoric. We have witnessed an escalation in draconian tactics that include demonizing and sabotaging adversaries, fabricating and repeating lies, weaponizing government, and criminal behavior. 

But is there no limit, especially when we see dictatorship and authoritarian behavior being considered to seize and exert control?  Surely, it would seem, we have to stop when the quest to win and control devolves into actions that threaten our democracy.  

The latest escalation in winning and controlling is dictatorial and authoritarian behavior.

Recently, the quest to win and control has turned to altering the checks and balances of government by seeking unprecedented power for the president.  Former President Trump has made several statements describing how he intends to expand such powers. You can read them in the “Agenda 47” section of his 2024 Presidential website. 

In addition, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative thinktank, has developed its own elaborate plan. It worked with hundreds of Republican organizations, leaders, and influencers to map the way for a conservative president beginning in 2025. That plan is Project 2025 (full title is Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project).  This 920-page manifesto proposes numerous policies and strategies to consolidate executive branch power in the president, including executive powers that have, over time, been ceded to Congress and the federal agencies.  

A variety of analysts, including some Republicans and conservatives, are sounding alarms that Trump wants to be a dictator and that Republicans will move to expand presidential power if they win.  Given the recommendations in Agenda 47 and Project 2025, which we’ll explore in this series, these concerns should not be ignored.  

Democrats are also being accused of dictatorial and authoritarian behavior.

On the other hand, Trump and the Republicans argue that it is Biden and the Democrats who have vastly expanded the reach and control of government.  It is the Democrats and the “deep state” who have weaponized government and destroyed American freedoms.  It is the “un-fireable” federal employees who assert their own objectives—rather than those of the president—in governing. 

“The long march of cultural Marxism through our institutions has come to pass. The federal government is a behemoth, weaponized against American citizens and conservative values, with freedom and liberty under siege as never before.”

Heritage Foundation President, Kevin Roberts, in the foreword to Project 2025

Because of the horrendous damage done by Biden and the Democrats, Republicans and conservatives argue that presidential powers must be expanded in order to fix the problem.   

Americans need to understand the trend towards dictatorial behavior, set aside their partisan leanings, and decide for themselves where they stand.

Caught in the crossfire are the American people. We urgently need to understand the escalation, sort out truth from fiction, and determine whether our freedoms and country are at peril.  

Rather than confront the threat, however, we have been propagandized via narratives that expediently affirm our partisan leanings.  A recent AP-NORC poll found that 87% of Democrats believe a second Trump term would negatively affect U.S. democracy; and 82% of Republicans believe democracy would be weakened by a Biden victory.

In relying on the solace of partisan leanings we avoid the hard work of sorting out fact from fiction.  We also perpetuate the division, cynicism, anger, and distrust that grips America. We’re hunkered down with our preferred narratives, intent upon winning so that we can impose our will on a bad and evil opponent. Worse, because of the escalation in tactics, we may unknowingly be causing irreparable harm to our country.

Difficult questions must be answered. We need to set aside our partisan leanings and take a hard look at what Republicans (the Right) and Democrats (the Left) are doing to embrace dictatorial and authoritarian behavior.  We need to understand what the Right is recommending. We also need to understand whether it is the Democrats who are at fault and whether the Right’s response is thus justified. And, finally, we need to understand the dangerous consequences of embracing dictatorial and authoritarian behavior.

For the sake of our nation, and for the sake of reconciling differences and building middle ground, we have to take on these hard questions.  Through research and objective analysis, we can find the answers.  We can determine whether we are dealing with unsubstantiated allegations, or charges backed by evidence and proof.  And we can determine whether our freedoms and country are at peril. 

This four-part series is offered to guide the way.

In service to this task, I offer this four-part series.  This article (Part 1) lays out the problem and how it will be approached. 

Part 2 turns to the power-expanding proposals made by former President Trump and Project 2025.  We’ll set aside partisan critiques and objectively assess the dangers that can result from these recommendations.

Part 3 focuses on the narratives raised by Trump, Republicans, and the conservative media pertaining to the threats and failures of Democrats.  We’ll explore two questions. Is it the Democrats who actually threaten democracy? And, have Republicans made their case for expanding the role of the President?  This includes looking at Biden and the Democrats weaponizing government, the existence of the “deep state,” alleged crimes committed by Biden and the Democrats, and assessing whether the federal government is too big, too intrusive, and too destructive of American freedoms.

The final article (Part 4) focuses on what we need to do, going forward.  How can we engage all Americans in understanding the power-expanding recommendations before us? How can we encourage them to reach their own conclusions about where they stand on the recommendations?  How do we break the cycle of ever-escalating tactics designed to win office and exert total control?   And, what can each of us do, going forward?

The stakes are very high. The November 2024 presidential election is going to be a turning point on whether America rejects or embraces a dictatorial and authoritarian future.  May all Americans be aware of the consequences when we cast our votes.