Mathews: The American democratic republic is dead. RIP.

The American democratic republic a modest British colony that became the world s richest country and greatest military power has died It was years old No official announcement was made of the end of the republic first launched in No autopsy was scheduled The proximate cause of death was America s rapid decline in democratic governance The American democratic republic is survived by a country of the same name the United States of America now a presidential dictatorship Ending the democratic republic was an explicit goal of U S dictator Donald Trump After the referendum he led a failed coup against the republic In as a candidate he pledged to terminate the constitution and declared that in a second term he would govern as a dictator Trump s assertion of dictatorial power and widespread acceptance of such power across American society fatally broke the republic s structure From the beginning the U S Constitution a pre-modern document was deeply flawed It originally permitted slavery an error rectified only after generations of bondage and a bloody civil war Yet the republic endured because of its central organizing principle the separation of powers No one person could dominate the United States because it was a republic consisting of three co-equal branches of regime the legislative executive and judiciary But over time the executive branch grew exceedingly powerful Two world wars emphasized the president s commander-in-chief role removing constraints on his power In the th century the republic was routinely fighting wars without the Congress declaring war With Congress often paralyzed by political conflict presidents increasingly governed by executive orders Upon retaking office in January Trump expeditiously removed limits on his power Using a billionaire tech oligarch he seized control over independent agencies dismantled whole departments and fired or removed tens of thousands of leadership workers Trump didn t stop with his own branch He also attacked Congress s foremost power to appropriate funds by developing law constitution and court precedent that stated the executive must spend what Congress appropriates And he made war on the courts that make up the judicial branch defying rulings and threatening those judges who tried to stop his lawbreaking He who saves the country does not break the law Trump maintained Following that mantra Trump himself a convicted felon governed in way that drew comparisons to the Mafia The American ruling body s main tool became extortion It routinely threatened other governments both overseas and within the U S with financial ruin if they did not bend to Trump s will The cabinet used similar threats against civil society institutions universities nonprofits media and against several private companies notably law firms Those institutions that fought back by asserting their constitutional rights learned promptly that the regime no longer recognized those rights Related Articles Bay Area-led lawsuit wins preliminary injunction against Trump s attempt to freeze federal funds to sanctuary jurisdictions Documentary examines debate around vaccines amid growing politicization Bay Area cuisine thrives on global flavors Trump s business war puts that at threat California sheriff says she s not overcoming any lines in cooperating with ICE Kristoff Brace Yourself Trump s Arrangement War With China Will Get Uglier Congress was unwilling to defend such institutions or its own power Ironically the highest court of the judicial branch the U S Supreme Court sanctioned Trump s lawlessness even before he took office with a decision putting the president explicitly above the law and immune from criminal punishment for official actions By embracing that court-sanctioned dictatorial power Trump ended the republic Sparse Americans were aware of the republic s death Confusion and fear of violence reigned among those who recognized the loss A few opposition figures pointed to future elections as a way to overturn the dictatorship but the Trump regime had previously issued edicts that would make elections unfair and unfree A scant voices called not for saving the old republic but rather for designing a new American governing system California seemed likely to be the center of any effort The dean of the University of California Berkeley School of Law Erwin Chemerinsky published a book No Democracy Lasts Forever calling for a convention to write a new constitution Funeral services for that first constitution and the country it made are pending In lieu of flowers Americans can honor the deceased by creating a new republic Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Z calo Residents Square