Brendan Nyhan
At this point, I'm less outraged/surprised by the extent of Trump's public support than the passivity and acquiescence of so many elites
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Sadly, we've known for decades that a subset of people have authoritarian tendencies and that hatred toward outgroups is often widespread
People's vulnerability to Trump-like figure hasn't changed. What changed is that the institutions of Am. govt./party system legitimized one
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That's why I'm dubious about all the root cause psychologizing - where's data showing economic anxiety or racial hatred is that much higher?
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Trump's rise represents a failure in American parties, media, and civic institutions - and they're continuing to fail right now
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Shockingly few public figures and elites are defending the norms of public debate and restraint from violence that Trump is bulldozing.
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These norms are fragile precisely because, per
@emilythorson, they are not formal or legal. And they are hard to restore once breached. -
No one person or institution is at fault for Trump. Everyone has their favorite monocausal explanation. They're all incomplete.
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We can sort through root causes later. Here's where we are: Someone could capture a major party nom who endorses violence & few seem alarmed
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I honestly thought our institutions were more robust to a Trump-like figure & that others in public life were more committed to dem. norms
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We may narrowly avert disaster per below but even if we do, no one should congratulate themselves on a great victoryhttps://twitter.com/MattGlassman312/status/709176665646039040 …
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@BrendanNyhan and, I wd argue, a pattern of delegitimizing authorities--media, parties, fact-checkers &c--that wd once have checked him. -
@poniewozik@BrendanNyhan I think this is important. The decline of trust in nearly all institutions is a recent phenomenon. - Show more
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@BrendanNyhan I’d argue that there were never institutional bulwarks preventing Trump-type figures — just norms of behavior. - Show more
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@BrendanNyhan Because Trump had nothing to lose/no tie to the people enforcing those norms, he was willing to try breaking them. It worked. - Show more
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@BrendanNyhan so I'm not ready to blame the institutions. Yet. What we may see is resilient institutions handle this and avoid disaster. -
@MattGlassman312@BrendanNyhan Then, too, we should consider: in most ways at most times, people are more likely to fail than institutions.
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@BrendanNyhan@CindyDPishere So we're looking for simple answers to a complex problem. -
@moonkooky there's nothing simple abt the myriad of things being overlooked by normalizing MSM & 1/2 country that ddn't vote@BrendanNyhan -
@moonkooky plus we had Sanders ripping Hillary w RW arguments while lying, not releasing taxes. No, nothing simple abt it.@BrendanNyhan -
@moonkooky now we hv Schumer putting DINO Manchin on Sen Dem leadership. Manchin announced he will vote to approve Sessions.@BrendanNyhan
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James Poniewozik
Josh Barro
Emily Thorson
Matt Glassman
Joseph Britt
Dino Guillen
Cindy D. Perkins
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