How Trumpocracy Corrupts Democracy

Feb 21, 2017 Sandra Navidi

American democracy is a complex, self-organizing system, and its president is a “superhub”: the most well-connected human “node,” located in the center of the network. While Donald Trump does not have control over the entire system, he has enough influence that he could cause it to fail.

MUNICH – American democracy is a complex, self-organizing system. In terms of network science, President Donald Trump is a “superhub”: the most well-connected human “node,” located in the center of the network. While Trump does not have control over the entire system – he himself is subject to its systemic forces – he has enough influence that he could cause it to fail.

Complex systems don’t fail easily. They are generally adaptive and self-correcting. When they become too skewed, circuit breakers kick in to restore balance. But if circuit breakers are disabled, the system will ultimately self-destruct.

The likelihood of such an outcome is hard to predict. But in situations of absolute uncertainty, it is advisable to assume the worst, and many indicators seem to point to a potential “hostile takeover” of liberal democracy by Trump and his cohorts.

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Steve Brant Jul 31, 2017

This is a very thoughtful essay. I applaud Sandra Navidi for recognizing how Trump seeks to weaken the existing system... including through his use of "alternative facts" (aka "lies").
Her knowledge of network dynamics is impressive ... a very important analytic methodology I also studied (from W. Edwards Deming and Russell L. Ackoff). I agree with her conclusion that "all Americans are part of the systems and... have the power to contribute to large-scale effects in defense of liberal democracy". Buckminster Fuller called this "being a trimtab"... the rudder on the ship, which by its actions creates forces that change the direction of the entire ship to which it is attached.
Here's to those of us with constructive ideas on how to improve society being trimtabs on the process of America recovering from Trump's election by (a) seeing the systemic design elements that enabled him to win and (b) designing and implementing a better system... one that permits America to achieve the potential the Founding Fathers envisioned ('all men are created equal") when they wrote the Constitution!
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d clark Feb 26, 2017

At least Sandra Navidi mentions the U.S. Constitution once. Why the revolt of the masses in electing Trump? Simply because his predecessor, Barack Hussein Obama, threw the Constitution to the wind. Trump is using it to get America back on track. Obama almost cut through that hawser that anchors America’s tri-partite system and limits a president’s power. The world knows by now of his dictator tactics when he spurned Congress and the Constitution to make his own law using his now infamous “pen and phone”.

A few examples that energized Americans who voted for Trump. Obama’s bureaucracy said “Yes sir” to his suffocating uneconomic regulations, to his claim that global warming and climate change is settled rather that under study, to the Iran deal that he maneuvered around Congress to preclude its “advise and consent” role, to his threatening bathroom “guidelines” to schools on transgenders that the great majority of parents opposed, to his thumbing his nose at religious liberty of small business owners and nuns, to his doubling America’s debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion, to his flagrant disregard of immigration law, to his racial favoritism, to his targeting of conservative Tea Party organizations. This plus his like-minded judges who throw the Constitution to the wind in favor of pleasing the political correctness of the moment—just what a Constitutionalist would not do.

The cute title of Navidi’s article, “How Trumpocracy Corrupts Democracy”, is out of phase by one president, his predecessor, Obama. Even keeping the term “network dynamics”, the final paragraph, when corrected by replacing her target Trump with “a president, the judiciary, or Congress” is a dull truism.
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Jack Harllee Feb 24, 2017

"What if Trump openly defied a court decision" Well, he had an opportunity to defy the Seattle judge and chose not to. He talked about using torture, but he put the Department of Defense under the control of someone who won't do that. He hasn't declared martial law in Chicago. And so on. In terms of his actual actions, I see no evidence so far of any contempt for law. Ms. Navidi falls prey to Trump's strategy of using wild rhetoric to dominate the conversation.
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Klaus Kastner Feb 23, 2017

I think it is far to early to declare Trump a dictator. In fact, it's far too early to worry about him. The far greater worry is the hysteric reaction of the liberal elitist to Trump. Trump will not stay around forever and he can be removed when things get out of hand. The liberal thought police will stay around.

http://donaldobserver.blogspot.co.at/2017/02/letter-to-lawyer-friend-in-america.html?showComment=1487858603116#c912274677431593109
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P. Kamath Feb 22, 2017

I think this is a very thoughtful colomn.
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stephan Edwards Feb 21, 2017

I don't like Trump didn't vote for him, but democracy was functionally dead long before he came along. We have had for at least 40 years government of, by and for the rich and corporations. Has for dividing globalization has done that rather thoroughly the winners run the government the rest of us are told the invisible hand of the market will make us all better off. Amazingly they say this with a straight face. Has for the Judiciary and the media, Citizens United ring any bells that decision pretty finished off democracy, so much for the protection of the judiciary for "Democracy". We have the finest legislature money can bribe, I mean that can solicit campaign donations. Has for the media they don't even pretend to be neutral which is why no one believes much of anything they say. Look around Trump is merely the beginning of the backlash against the status quo not the ending. For the status quo has produced a relative handful of winners and a lot of people who see nothing for they or their children's future but Walmart and Mcdonalds. When our elites effectively wiped out the chance for most to make even to the middle class by shipping most middle class jobs to the third world in the name of company profits. You created a whole of people with no hope and no future. People with no hope are very very dangerous they have nothing to lo0se. Liberal democracy has been dead for years killed in the name of globalization and company profits. Killed with consent and support of all 3 branches of government and the media. Democracy isn't being corrupted it is dead and our Elites killed it!
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How Trumpocracy Corrupts Democracy

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