politics

Is Left-Wing Illiberalism the Greatest Threat to American Democracy?

Tufts University
Genesis
Response
Penultimate
Finale
September 19th, 2020
I appreciate Professor Drezner's thoughtful reply and apologize for the late response; too much happening, all directly related to our topic! Today is one hell of a day to post this, but I'll go ahead.
I largely share Drezner's concerns about Trumpism's threat to liberal democracy. But I would argue that at least so far, the greatest harm is not in actual policies but in moral assaults on liberal principles (as in Drezner's example of "enemies of the people" rhetoric about the press coming from the President of the United States). And in that sense, moral assaults on liberal principles coming from within liberal institutions matter as much—whether it's universities abandoning a commitment to free exchange of ideas or a steady drumbeat of articles in major publications suggesting that the First Amendment is obsolete and "hate speech" should be treated as violence.
I agree, too, about disturbing government overreach in the attempt to stop violent protests, whether it's the Tennessee law expanding penalties in ways that may jeopardize voting rights or Attorney General William Barr's push to prosecute rioters for sedition.
Yet surely large-scale street violence threatens democracy too. (And you needn't be a Trumpian conspiracist to see evidence that the mayhem is at least somewhat coordinated.) Economic and human costs aside, the recent riots have also involved clear political intimidation, including physical attacks on journalists and on a state legislatorironically a progressive Democrat. Yes, there has also been police brutality toward media; yes, extremist violence has skewed heavily right in the past 30 years (which could be changing). But those are overwhelmingly condemned. Meanwhile, major liberal publications have run material sympathetic to rioting and looting.
Drezner believes I exaggerate the power of the illiberal left. But as I noted, even politically, the right's grip on power exists (for now) only on the federal level. Surely it means something that city governments in Seattle or New York can promote radical identity politics in staff diversity training or in public schools.
Cultural power isn't monolithic, either: there's the culture of The New York Times, CNN and the Ivy League, and the (counter)culture of Breitbart, Fox News or the Claremont Institute. Hence, the Tucker Carlsons and the Jack Posobiecs can get away with things one-tenth of which would get you "canceled" forever on the other side of the fence. But there is little doubt, I think, about which of these two worlds is culturally dominant today. Again, my concern is the growth of illiberalism within liberal culture—and the growth of stark polarization between the two cultures.
I'll conclude by coming back to a point I made in my first entry: the dangers of left-wing illiberalism include the fact that it boosts right-wing illiberalism—especially in the age of Trump, who thrives on culture wars. Can we stop or at least slow down this vicious cycle? Electing Joe Biden, a moderate Democrat, may be such a chance. But it can only happen if liberals have a clear-eyed view of the illiberalism in their midst.
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