# Trump 'Dictator' Comments Raise Questions About Democracy. Here Are 5 Guardrails – If They Hold  ## Metadata - Author:: [[USA TODAY]] - Full Title:: Trump 'Dictator' Comments Raise Questions About Democracy. Here Are 5 Guardrails – If They Hold - Category: #articles - URL: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/01/05/trump-democracy-guardrails-2024/71824813007/?utm_source=usatoday-newsalert-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_term=hero&utm_content=usat-mclean-nletter01 ## Highlights > Here’s more on five key guardrails at play in curbing potential abuses of executive power. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hkfrwrys312f7g4gc5sew1pa)) > The courts ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hkfrx6xmcn13h6amm93c68dp)) > Congress ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hkfrxpy3z8mt4c4eywvb7ctz)) > The 'power ministries' ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hkfry150mbrz1ayf1m8gnq5z)) > 2020. > “The real threat is if he is able to purge and co-opt the power ministries: Law enforcement, defense, intelligence,” said Gorski of Yale. “Failing that, he can’t really go beyond being a norm-defying president.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hkfryn2m4jnkjb0ga0xynbs7)) > There are multiple reasons to believe those “power ministries” would stand firm, he said. The militaries of successful strongmen are often drawn from the region or ethnic group that has strong ties to the leader. “The fact that we have a really cross-class, multi-racial, inclusive military is certainly a buttress,” he said. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hkfrz7arv54yrgyg6ywg39mr)) > Both Gorski and Berman said the defense communities are staffed with people who are largely nonpartisan, professional and committed to defending the Constitution. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hkfrzh4n9vd3sr7bt0j4m1sb)) > Elections ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hkfrztszvy0208mp0rpc6hkz)) > A democratic government is the antithesis of a dictatorship – and so, the first guardrail against presidential dictatorship is not to elect somebody who has tendencies towards authoritarianism or dictatorial tendencies,” he said ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hkfs0qvdsy7dt8t18jq87xbf)) > The press ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hkfs16crmv5cbh5d6e658z0b)) > The freedom of the press, the freedom of speech — our system depends upon a belief that the press and dissidents can speak against the government,” Goldstein said. “And that you as a citizen are not being unpatriotic by criticizing the government; it’s our patriotic duty to criticize the government when it acts improperly ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hkfs1qxfzp3enbv7nhfs7gbc)) > Looking forward ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hkfs2cj04168kpaxwrmkw4a2)) > Ultimately, any guardrail on presidential authoritarianism or dictatorship depends upon government officials and citizens valuing constitutional principle above short-term partisan advantage,” said Goldstein of St. Louis University. > When people are more interested in “protecting their own team” than following the Constitution, he added, “then the system can unwind.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hkfs2vvaqvn9p0rw6hakgq12))