Donald Trump, Constitutional Failure, and the Guardrails of Democracy

Julie Novkov

The theme of this year’s Schmooze Issue is constitutional revolution. This piece considers the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, asking both how close the United States came to what would have been for many a highly undesirable constitutional revolution, and what guardrails prevented this revolution from occurring. The tradition of a peaceful transfer of power from administration to administration following established constitutional procedures, even in contentious moments or periods of crisis, has been a constant for more than 150 years. The events occurring between summer 2020 and January 2021 stand in contrast to this history, but we should not dismiss them as a bizarre outlier. Rather, they reveal significant gaps in our constitutional structure and open opportunities for manipulation, highlighting the possibility for successful revolution if political actors can exploit them. The fact that the nation seems to have achieved a peaceful transfer of power should not blind us to the risks that continue to exist.