Tyranny of the Majority or the Minority? Development of the American Democracy Since the Writing of the Constitution

As part of the "Democracy" lecture series at Freiburg's Samstags-Uni, Professor Manfred Berg spoke yesterday about

   

The lecture hall was fuller than ever. The audience waited eagerly for some helpful comments on a possible President Trump. But first, Professor Berg spoke about the historical development of American democracy.

What was new to me was that the United States was founded as a republic, not a democracy. But at the latest, since the German Revolution of 1848, the two concepts have blurred into one, when Friedrich Hecker demanded in the pre-parliament in Frankfurt that only a Federal Republic modeled on the North American free states can ensure the unity and freedom of Germany.

The revolution failed, as did the attempt to introduce democracy permanently in the Weimar Republic.

Following the Second World War, the Americans fulfilled Hecker's demand by successfully transferring their Republican system to the Federal Republic of Germany. We are still thankful.

Professor Berg showed a slide listing the primary conditions of democracy.

He then categorized American democracy's history.

 

Checks and balances are the firm corsets of American democracy where ambition counteracts ambition.

The first transition of power between two presidents occurred peacefully after the 1800 election. This tradition was broken with the last presidential election.

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I had never seen such an informative power distribution map on the eve of the Civil War of 1860.

During Reconstruction, freed slaves were given the right to vote. Yet, 160 years later, some states still hinder the independent, free exercise of voting through administrative and bureaucratic requirements that discriminate against entire groups of voters.

The demographic development in the States to 2045 shows that the proportion of the white population is being pushed into a minority, primarily due to Hispanic immigration. This also causes division in American society.

The widening gap between the rich and the "poor" is not unique to the US. Social explosives?

The suffragette refers to President Wilson's treatment of the Germans at Versailles, who, unlike the British and French, gave the Germans credit for not having lived in a democracy.

In the end, Professor Berg did not fail to promote his new book, A House Divided.

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A future President Trump has announced gruesome things. After a chaotic first term, he is already having his vassals prepare for his likely second term.

Trump will undoubtedly try to increase his executive power at the expense of the judiciary and the legislature.

He plans to demote the Department of Justice to his instrument of revenge. Trump said at a rally, "That means if I win and somebody wants to run against me, I'll call my attorney general. I say, 'Listen, indict him'."

When murmurs in the audience occurred, Trump continued in the voice of his future attorney general, "But he hasn't done anything wrong. I don't know." Trump ended with an order, "Indict him on income tax evasion. Figure it out."

Can Congress's legislative power be overridden by executive orders?

We Europeans will be in for a rough ride. Are we sufficiently prepared for Trump's well-prepared second term? I doubt it.

Will Trump end the war in Ukraine to Putin's liking? Will he hollow out NATO?.

If he does not win the presidential election, will the US be faced with a bloodbath? Given the density of firearms in the country (1.2 per person) and the January 6, 2021, events, this is not out of the question.

On leaving, the director of the Freiburg Studium Generale, Professor Werner Frick, rightly said that the speaker was sending us into the weekend with pessimistic feelings.

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