Movements, Executive Power, and Democratic Precarity

• In Event: Political Parties and Social Movements in American Political Development

Abstract

The specter of U.S. democratic regime breakdown has been a source of wide concern since the start of the Trump administration. Despite its valuable contributions, a key factor is missing in these accounts of democratic distemper: the pivotal role played by social movements of both the political right and left during democratic crises. Whereas many of these studies highlight variables such as flawed party leadership and unchecked executive power, our research places social movements at the center of democratic expansion, contraction, and resilience in U.S. politics from the nineteenth century to present. More precisely, this article demonstrates how democratic growth and decline have been shaped especially by the triangular relationship between social movements, political parties, and presidents. These portentous democratic dynamics, we show, reflect neither top-down nor bottom-up processes but a crucial interplay of the two.

Authors

• Sidney M. Milkis, University of Virginia

• Daniel Tichenor, University of Oregon