Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, the authors of “How Democracies Die,” examine just how fragile our is for the New York Times. Two norms undergird an American system that endured through crises for nearly two and a half centuries:
To function well, democratic constitutions must be reinforced by two basic norms, or unwritten rules. The first is mutual toleration, according to which politicians accept their opponents as legitimate. When mutual toleration exists, we recognize that our partisan rivals are loyal citizens who love our country just as we do.
The second norm is forbearance, or self-restraint in the exercise of power. Forbearance is the act of not exercising a legal right. In politics, it means not deploying one’s institutional prerogatives to the hilt, even if it’s legal to do so.
To read the entire article, click on this link and scroll down to the article titled Forbearance, or lack thereof dated 1/28/2018 06:00:00 AM: https://digbysblog.blogspot.com
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