Donald Trump’s presidency raised fears about populist pressure on civil and economic liberties. But predictions about the death of democracy in the U.S. are considerably off the mark because American institutions are robust. Trump was constrained by democratic norms and election procedures, an independent judiciary, and polycentric federalist governance—as is every American leader. Ironically, Trump did almost nothing to expand the institutional powers of the presidency—and arguably reduced them.

Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili is associate professor of international affairs in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.
Ilia Murtazashvili is associate professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.
Tymofiy Mylovanov is associate professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh and honorary president of the Kyiv School of Economics.
Contemporary PoliticsGovernment and Politics
Other Independent Review articles by Ilia Murtazashvili
Spring 2022 “The Danger of Deplorable Reactions”: W. H. Hutt on Liberalism, Populism, and the Constitutional Political Economy of Racism
Summer 2020 The Fracking Debate: The Risks, Benefits, and Uncertainties of the Shale Revolution
Fall 2019 More Boon Than Bane: How the U.S. Reaped the Rewards and Avoided the Costs of the Shale Boom