Current Crisis and Deterioration of American Democracy, Forewarned by Literature and Historical Events
College
College of Business (Strome)
Department
School of Public Service
Graduate Level
Doctoral
Graduate Program/Concentration
PhD Public Administration & Policy
Presentation Type
Event
Abstract
Forewarnings on factors lead up to the deterioration of US Democracy was made by recognized scholars such as Friedman, Hayek, and served as the spurred academic examination and discourse throughout literature on the role of public administrators and public administration scholars. Actions to undermine democracy was evident with the January 6th attack by far-right extremists and are not in dispute by our justice system. U.S. District Judge Lamberth, a Republican judge who was appointed during the Reagan administration, wrote in his recent sentencing of a Jan. 6 violent protestor who was being depicted as a hero, stated that he “fears that such destructive, misguided rhetoric could presage further danger to our country” (Kunzeman & Richer, 2024). President-elect Trump’s anticipated decision to pardon these violent rioters not only backslides democracy, but it also represents a clear departure from rule of law, equating reward and allowance of criminal acts made by political allegiance, reminiscent of historical acts of political mob violence in Nazi Germany and the Roman Empire.
The degree and method in resistance to unconstitutional and illegal acts will test American public administration by fire over the next few years.
Bozeman et al. (2024) wrote that “deformations in democracy does not lend itself to precise indicators, nor is it easy to make fine distinctions between deformation and other types of political acts” (p. 797). We will review the 6 individual strategies by which to respond to deformation in democracy: 1) neutral competence, 2) patience, 3) reliance on ethical codes, 4) whistleblowing, 5) exiting one’s position, 6) guerilla government (O’Leary, 2010). A seventh strategy, under institutional collective action, to unite public administrators into a compact to actively address and provide a check against misdeeds. First duty is to identify, document, and discuss the abrogation from democratic governance according to the U.S. Constitution.
Keywords
Deterioration, Democracy, US, United States, Backsliding, Democratic, Constitution, Constitutionality, Public administration, Public affairs, Legal, Rule of law
Current Crisis and Deterioration of American Democracy, Forewarned by Literature and Historical Events
Forewarnings on factors lead up to the deterioration of US Democracy was made by recognized scholars such as Friedman, Hayek, and served as the spurred academic examination and discourse throughout literature on the role of public administrators and public administration scholars. Actions to undermine democracy was evident with the January 6th attack by far-right extremists and are not in dispute by our justice system. U.S. District Judge Lamberth, a Republican judge who was appointed during the Reagan administration, wrote in his recent sentencing of a Jan. 6 violent protestor who was being depicted as a hero, stated that he “fears that such destructive, misguided rhetoric could presage further danger to our country” (Kunzeman & Richer, 2024). President-elect Trump’s anticipated decision to pardon these violent rioters not only backslides democracy, but it also represents a clear departure from rule of law, equating reward and allowance of criminal acts made by political allegiance, reminiscent of historical acts of political mob violence in Nazi Germany and the Roman Empire.
The degree and method in resistance to unconstitutional and illegal acts will test American public administration by fire over the next few years.
Bozeman et al. (2024) wrote that “deformations in democracy does not lend itself to precise indicators, nor is it easy to make fine distinctions between deformation and other types of political acts” (p. 797). We will review the 6 individual strategies by which to respond to deformation in democracy: 1) neutral competence, 2) patience, 3) reliance on ethical codes, 4) whistleblowing, 5) exiting one’s position, 6) guerilla government (O’Leary, 2010). A seventh strategy, under institutional collective action, to unite public administrators into a compact to actively address and provide a check against misdeeds. First duty is to identify, document, and discuss the abrogation from democratic governance according to the U.S. Constitution.
Comments
Bozeman, Barry, John P. Nelson, Stuart Bretschneider, and Spencer Lindsay. 2024. “The Deformation of Democracy in the United States: When Does Bureaucratic “Neutral Competence” Rise to Complicity?” Public Administration Review 84(5): 796–816. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13855
Kaufman, H. (1956). Emerging conflicts in the doctrines of public administration. American Political Science Review, 50(4), 1057-1073.