Chat: How’s Our Democracy Doing?

In this week’s politics chat, we check in on the health of our democracy. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

 

micah (Micah Cohen, politics editor): After Donald Trump won the election, a lot of people — journalists, academics, regular folks — raised concerns about the future of our democracy. Would Trump upend democratic norms and violate core principles? The Trump administration is only in its fifth day, so it’s way too soon to know. But we don’t want to lose sight of those bigger questions. So today we’re going to go through a checklist put together by Harvard’s Stephen M. Walt for Foreign Policy magazine in late November, offering “10 warning signs that democracy is at risk.” (Walt saw Trump as a risk on all 10.)

Again, it’s early in the Trump era — though we’ve already learned a lot about how he intends to govern from his transition, inauguration and first few days in office — but we’ll return to these questions periodically.

So, everyone on the same page? This is basically an oil check for U.S. democracy — you buy a used car and the service department takes a look before you take it home.

natesilver (Nate Silver, editor in chief): I just wanna say I took this guy’s class in college and I think I got an A-minus, so take that into account when you review my answers.

clare.malone (Clare Malone, senior political writer): A-minus? I expected more from you, Nate.

harry (Harry Enten, senior political writer): I got an A-minus once … it was an overrated experience.

clare.malone: Know what’s a failure of democracy? Annette Bening not being nominated for an Oscar this year.

micah: And to be clear, this isn’t FiveThirtyEight saying Trump will ruin American democracy — we just take a “better safe than sorry” attitude here.

natesilver: I think we’re just saying, “Is this normal?”

clare.malone: OK, let’s talk about stuff.

micah: First up, No. 1: Has Trump undertaken “systematic efforts to intimidate the media”?

natesilver: No. Period.

clare.malone: Yes!

What do you call having your press secretary at your first press conference telling a reporter to behave or else he’d revoke his press pass?

What do you call keeping reporters in pens and physically preventing them from talking to people at rallies?

natesilver: I was being sarcastic.

clare.malone: Text has no nuance. Sarcasm not detected.

micah: Oh, I actually don’t think this is clear cut.

natesilver: Really? He’s called out reporters by name, revoked and threatened to revoke access….

harry: Trump rewards good press coverage. Like he did at his first news conference. He also calls out reporters, such as Katy Tur, when they report on news he doesn’t like.

micah: All those examples are definitely bad. I’m not sure they rise to “systematic,” though.

natesilver: #slatepitches

clare.malone: What, you want him to have a handbook, Micah? “The Trump White House’s Guide to Sowing Distrust in the Press?”

natesilver: That’s not to say Trump can never, ever use carrots as well as sticks or threats. He gives a comparatively high amount of access to certain outlets.

micah: They seem more like Trump and his people have very low regard for the media and act accordingly. And they definitely try to undermine public trust in the press. But it’s harder to point to a recurring effort to intimate reporters.

natesilver: But calling out reporters on stage at rallies? That’s the very definition of intimidation.

micah: Walt gives examples like using the FCC to harass media companies and opening up libel laws.

clare.malone: Micah, someone is now using the White House platform and the seal of the president to lend credibility to their attacks on the press. You should be alarmed by that.

micah: I’m 100 percent alarmed!