Nearly 1,000 political scientists from across the U.S. have signed a letter, saying American democracy is under threat based on the early actions of the new Trump administration. A North Dakota expert is among those speaking out. Those who added their names to the statement work for colleges and universities in both “red” and “blue” states. They highlight six specific areas of concern, including the administration acting unilaterally to cancel spending approved by Congress. They say moves like that undermine checks and balances.
Mark Jendrysik, a political science professor based in North Dakota, says he personally feels the nation is in a “constitutional crisis.”
“The presidency is attempting to basically render Congress superfluous to almost every important decision, and the most important decision, which is how money is raised and spent,” hew said.
He added that Congress, currently under Republican control, seems too willing to surrender that power and said this has been a crisis building for decades, with the executive branch trying to seize more control. In defending certain actions, the White House says it’s ensuring that all federal agencies are accountable to the American people, as required by the Constitution.
But Jendrysik, who isn’t speaking on behalf of the University of North Dakota where he teaches, says the arguments he’s seen from the Trump administration don’t hold up. He says he realizes some people choose not to pay attention to what’s happening, but he thinks both Congress and citizens should be worried, too.
“Someone else smarter than me [once] said, ‘When citizens stop saying “the public affairs aren’t my concern,” then the republic is lost,'” he continued.
The authors behind the statement say Trump fairly won last fall’s election, but add that his victory doesn’t grant him the right to overturn the nation’s constitutional and legal order. Other political observers say longtime dysfunction in Congress in addressing the nation’s problems has allowed too many voters to consistently view the legislative branch as ineffective, giving rise to an administration willing to push legal and ethical boundaries.
