Steven Levitsky, the author of “how democracies die,” which “Brazil is today a more democratic system than the US.” Seymour M lipSet’s provocation – “Who knows only one country, knows no country” – is an invitation to always expand the scope of cases in our analysis. LipSet is the author of the classic “” (1996). It traces the origins and evolution of the idea that the US is a nation distinct from the others and that American democracy is an institutional model to be emulated.
In “”, Lijphart, Shugart, Gropman and Taylor have scrutinized this model comparing it with 31 other advanced democracies and conclude that the US is far from representing successful model: “The are not just a variation of the democratic theme; they are a distinctly different type of democracy.” And more blunt: “The American system works despite its institutional design, not because of it.”
What are the singularities of the model? According to the authors “the US president rules with less formal responsibility to the legislature than just about any other head of democratic government.” This statement will be.
After all, the institutional design of the oldest democracy in the world, more than any other, is based on the principle of separation of powers, as I have already discussed.
On the other hand, they show that “the US Congress is one of the strongest and most independent legislatures in the democratic world, especially the Senate,” operating more independently from the executive than in other democracies. The combination of bicameralism, a strong commission system and separation of powers results in a legislative process with many veto points. But none of this shows under Trump.
The problem is that the system is vulnerable to majorities. And Trump is a majority in the Senate and the House. In 2026 there will be election in a middle of mandate – but objective is precisely to increase the chances of political misalignment with the executive – and there may be change. To see.
The actor with veto power in a scenario like this is the judiciary and “no other democracy gives both lasting power to judges and the United States.” Yes, it was in this country that the control of constitutionality was invented. But Trump had and opportunity to name three Supreme Court judges and she is mostly republican. The combination of exceptional factors thus suggests an exceptionalism of the presidency of Trump more than the American model.
However, it is necessary to distinguish Trump’s threats and bravado, from his effective undemocratic actions and his tsunami of stapting measures. Its dismantling from the liberal international trade regime, for example, has nothing to do with non -se.
I think it is too early to beat the hammer about the effective impact of its measures on American democracy beyond the obvious degradation of political life in the country because the Supreme Court has not yet decided on key issues such as the changes in executive citizenship and prerogatives in relation to budget and tariffs.
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