If Donald Trump and his billionaire allies succeed in transforming the US political system into an authoritarian oligarchy, democracy will be imperiled worldwide. What more will it take for Europeans to recognize the implications of today’s shifting global terrain?
BERLIN – The peaceful handover of presidential power has been a political norm in the United States since the end of George Washington’s second term 228 years ago. Notwithstanding a bloody civil war in the 1860s, this tradition has been a hallmark of stability, establishing the US as the modern world’s oldest democracy. As the country’s international influence grew, especially after the twentieth century’s two world wars, its system of governance increasingly became a model for others.
BERLIN – The peaceful handover of presidential power has been a political norm in the United States since the end of George Washington’s second term 228 years ago. Notwithstanding a bloody civil war in the 1860s, this tradition has been a hallmark of stability, establishing the US as the modern world’s oldest democracy. As the country’s international influence grew, especially after the twentieth century’s two world wars, its system of governance increasingly became a model for others.