The Institutions Didn’t Stop Trump: They Empowered Him
| Author | Richard Johnson |
| DOI | 10.1177/2041905820958814 |
| Published date | 01 September 2020 |
| Date | 01 September 2020 |
4POLITICAL INSIGHT•SEPTEMBER 2020
When Donald Trump was
elected in November
2016, many worried
onlookers took solace in
the idea that American political institutions
would mitigate the new President’s worst
excesses. These ‘institutions’ were vaguely
identified, but they appeared to include
the US Senate, the federal judiciary,
and bureaucrats within the executive
branch. These institutional checks often
complement each other. Days after Trump’s
election, journalist Matthew Yglesias
at Vox raised the hope that the Senate
confirmation process would prevent Trump
from installing incompetent loyalists into
the executive and judicial branches.
At rst, there were a number of institutional
The Institutions
Didn’t Stop Trump:
They Empowered Him
The institutions of American government have not failed to
constrain Trump because they were never designed to do so,
argues Richard Johnson.
actors who seemed prepared to thwart the
President’s worst initiatives. We’ve learned
of advisers in the executive branch who
refused to put pieces of paper in front of the
President to protect US trade agreements.
To the great annoyance of the President,
his Attorney General Je Sessions failed to
protect Trump from the creation of a special
counsel’s investigation into his ties with
Russia during and after the 2016 election.
Federal courts blocked Trump’s travel ban,
which was designed to limit arrivals from
Muslim-majority countries, in Spring 2017.
The courts then struck down the ban again,
Political Insight September 2020 BU.indd 4Political Insight September 2020 BU.indd 404/08/2020 13:2804/08/2020 13:28
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting