Executive Power: The Growing Threat to Democracy

We have learned about it, and if you are a citizen of the United States of America, you have lived in it all your life. When it comes to democracy, we understand it as a type of government made for the people. The first word that comes to my mind is freedom. We can maintain an equal power distribution through checks and balances to keep actions transparent and our leaders accountable. It is our right to participate in the running of our government and elect individuals who we feel are best to satisfy the needs of citizens. Democracy has been the modern approach to how countries feel a government should be run, but as of late, it has been under threat from a growing issue. The increase in executive aggrandizement, a danger that is not always overt, has become a crucial threat to the life of democracy. Nancy Bermeo states, ‘The common form of democratic backsliding occurs when elected executives weaken checks on executive power one by one, undertaking a series of institutional changes that hamper the power of opposition forces challenging executive preferences.’ This subtle, gradual, and legal way that leaders have used to consolidate power at the expense of democratic institutions is a cause for concern. Despite the differences amongst countries worldwide, whether through politics or one’s culture, we will analyze how leaders of Hungary, Turkey, and the U.S. have shown common characteristics of executive aggrandizement and destabilizing democratic governance.

For centuries, power and territory have been conquered through conflict. Most of the time, if power is not transferred peacefully, we see a rise in revolutions and wars for those revolutionaries to change the current regime in power. We can use the American Revolution as an example. When people feel oppressed, marginalized, and taken advantage of, in this case, the colonists decided to rebel against the British. Colonists fought to free themselves from the grasp of King George III and the British parliament. Democracy was formed to prevent such leaders from having majority power over a state. Recently, we have seen the rise of leaders forming authoritarian characteristics and populist ideologies within their democracy. In the cases of the countries at hand, we look at a more precise approach executives take to expand their power. Determining whether a country is witnessing a power overreach by its leader may be challenging for the average person to analyze. We must recognize and hold leaders accountable for actions that could or are blatantly weakening our democratic institutions. There have been countries, including the United States, that have had issues of racism, economic inequality, political polarization, as well as how one country should handle the increase in immigration in some countries. For instance, the U.S. has tried to buckle down on immigrants crossing the border illegally and sending those who are already here illegally back to where they came from. Leaders have also found ways to undermine their government from within. One issue that a country’s population should be aware of is the placement of loyalists in the judiciary or legislative roles to create laws and fracture institutional independence. Viktor Orban’s judicial reforms in Hungary involved undermining the judicial system and increasing political influence. On the other hand, when the 2016 coup attempt by the Turkish military took place, purges ordered by Turkey’s president, Tayyip Erdogan, called for the arrest of individuals who opposed his leadership. These three countries have blatantly become victims of their leaders and actions, shaping their government into what they want it to be portrayed as.

Executive aggrandizement can be described as a political phenomenon that has spread across numerous political systems and regimes. We will first look at Hungary’s Viktor Orban. Describing Viktor Orban’s reign in Hungary could be branded as an “electoral autocracy” (The Guardian). Some would describe Viktor Orban as the Trump before Trump. With Orban’s Fidesz party holding two-thirds of the majority within its government, he has been able to change laws and Hungary’s constitution. When the world tragically witnessed the outbreak of COVID-19, Viktor Orban was able to adopt an emergency law that allowed the government to rule by decree indefinitely. This law caused accusations against Orban by the English Parliament that he was causing Hungary to experience democratic backsliding on the rule of law, corruption, and LGBT rights (BBC). Not only that but Hungary’s president has also been accused of creating a system of rewards and punishments. This system would allow Viktor Orban to control the media in Hungary and maintain support for his presidency. With majority rule and the appointment of loyalists to the country’s Constitutional Court, Viktor Orban has been able to move forward with his autocratic-influenced agenda.

We will now look at Turkey and its President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In the last decade, we have seen the Turkish military fail to overthrow their president and the consequences that have taken place. Following the July 2016 coup, a three-month state of emergency was invoked. Though the state of emergency expired, a purge continued to scope out Erdogan’s opponents. Whether it was the military, people of the judiciary system, or anyone associated with the Gulen movement, they were to be removed to maintain Erdogan’s position as president. Over 300 people were killed during the military coup, and this has led to over a hundred thousand jobs being lost throughout Turkey’s military, police force, civil service, and academia (NPR). How will these people be able to provide for their families? How does this resemble in any way how a democracy should be run? For a government to take away the ability of a person to provide for themselves, their significant other, and their kids is nothing other than forced suffering. The actions of the president are an atrocity towards Turkish citizens and have done nothing but allow Erdogan to consolidate more power within the government. With so many people losing their jobs, President Erdogan has filled his government with people who are seen to have been loyal to him. Loyalists around the president are known to own media outlets that have allowed Erdogan to control them. This has caused the erosion of Turkey’s democratic norms and has shown traits of Erdogan forming into an authoritarian leader.

Last, we will examine the current President of the United States, Donald Trump. Some love him, and some hate him, but we must examine the President’s actions and examine why these actions should be considered executive aggrandizement. We could go back to the end of his first term as president and look at the justification for the 2021 Capitol riots. Donald Trump would accuse the Democratic Party of stealing the 2020 presidential election away from him. Trump would proclaim that he was the true victor of the election and encourage his supporters of the ‘Make America Great Again’ brand to ‘Stop the Steal.’ Four years later, at the beginning of his second term, we would see President Trump pardon those individuals who participated in the January 6 Capitol riots. We can’t overlook that America has allowed a convicted felon to enter office as President of the United States. Convicted felons aren’t even allowed to vote in elections, so how could a convicted felon manage to become president and not be considered democratic at all? Though he has been banned on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook before, it doesn’t take away the fact that Donald Trump has brutally attacked the character of his opponents through tweets and an upcoming social platform known as Truth (The Guardian). Donald Trump has appointed over 200 judges (Pew Research), labeled as majority conservative judges, who would help shape the U.S. to his liking. He has challenged the legitimacy of our democratic institutions countless times. He has fueled the burning fire of polarization growing in America with his views and ideologies on how to ‘Make America Great Again.’

To conclude, we have now looked at the presidential leaders of Turkey, Hungary, and the United States of America. The three countries could be considered different by culture, but have shown similar characteristics in having leaders who have overstepped their boundaries in power. These leaders have used legal ways to undermine the governments and democracies of their countries to lead as they want to lead. These leaders have found ways to fool and manipulate their people, which could have led to a change in the way of life and how we have viewed the expectations of a democracy. To prevent the backsliding of democratic societies, we must continue to improve the education of all citizens, from the rich down to the poor. No person should be oblivious to the underlying actions and consequences that could lead to executive aggrandizement in a nation. Democratic institutions must remain resilient and keep order within the checks and balances between elected officials, whether it’s at the local or national level. The people will find their voices and be heard again to hold leaders accountable and push forward the continuance of democracy.

Democracy or autocracy symbol. Businessman turns wooden cubes and changes the word autocracy to democracy. Beautiful grey background, copy space. Business and democracy or autocracy concept.

Work Cited

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Paul Kirby & Budapest correspondent Nick Thorpe. “Who Is Viktor Orban, Hungarian Pm with 14-Year Grip on Power?” BBC News, BBC, 13 Feb. 2024, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67832416.

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Blazina, Carrie. “How Trump Compares With Other Recent Presidents in Appointing Federal Judges.” Pew Research Center, 14 Apr. 2024, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/01/13/how-trump-compares-with-other-recent-presidents-in-appointing-federal-judges.