It Can’t Happen Here is Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 novel about a fascist demagogue who is elected president of the United States and establishes a dictatorship. Given the 1933 rise to power of Adolf Hitler, it was a chilling read in its day.
It remains a chilling read today, because we are living through the gravest attack on our democracy, and the rule of law that sustains it, in the history of our country. Donald Trump claims the powers of a dictator. He asserts that the Constitution allows him to do “anything [he] want[s],” including the right to “terminate” it.
His conduct has been consistent with his aspirations. Just for starters, he has called for the execution of members of Congress for daring to remind military personnel that they have a duty to disobey illegal orders. His so-called Department of War murders helpless civilians on the high seas. The masked agents of ICE terrorize and brutalize innocent women, children and clergy members. He has tried, through coercion and punishment, to silence law firms who challenge his policies in court or speak out against him. He has claimed the power to abolish the constitutional right to birthright citizenship.
But, one year into Trump’s second term, we have not yet descended into a full-blown dictatorship. The courts have rejected many of Trump’s power grabs and unconstitutional acts. Millions of citizens publicly protest his administration’s actions. Governors and members of Congress – including Republicans - continue to speak out, and bipartisan Congressional oversight investigations have begun.
Yet the question remains: Can it happen here? As grim as things look, I think the answer is probably not. Compared to Hitler’s Germany, the path to dictatorship in the U.S. contains major roadblocks not easily overcome. Among other things:
• Our First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of assembly – the most important bulwarks against tyranny. As Adlai Stevenson said, “the first principle of a free society is an untrammeled flow of words in an open forum.” Nazi Germany banned all dissent and protest.
• Under our Constitution, the federal government must share power with the states, which have their own governments, police forces, and taxing authorities. In Nazi Germany, there were no power centers other than the federal government.
• We have an independent judiciary that can check, and has checked, Trump’s illegal or unconstitutional acts. In Nazi Germany, the courts were nothing more than rubber stamps for Hitler and his minions.
• We have an opposition party that continues to speak out against, and shine a light on, the excesses of the Trump administration. The Nazis banned all opposition parties.
• We have a 250-year history of democracy and freedom that has been ingrained in us. Our country was founded on opposition to tyranny. Germany had no such tradition when Hitler rose to power. Until the short-lived and troubled Weimar Republic of 1919-1933, Germans had no experience with democracy.
But how reassuring are these roadblocks? After all, the Weimar Republic also had these features (except for our democratic tradition). And yet Hitler was able to consolidate his power and establish his dictatorship within two months of being named chancellor.
The answer is that the obstacles in Trump’s way would be far harder to surmount than those Hitler faced. The Weimar constitution contained a kill switch: a provision declaring that all of the civil liberties and other protections it provided could be eliminated simply by a decree pronouncing a public safety emergency. And that is exactly what happened when a fire destroyed the Reichstag (the seat of parliament) in February 1933. Using the fire as a pretext to claim that communists were threatening to overrun the country, the Nazis issued the Reichstag Fire Decree, which eliminated freedom of the press and free speech, and allowed the Nazi party to take over the state governments and eliminate opposition parties.
One month after the Reichstag Fire Decree, through physical intimidation and terror, the Nazis forced through parliament an amendment to the Weimar Constitution known as the Enabling Act.The Enabling Act gave Hitler, rather than parliament, the power to make and enforce laws. The Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act formed the foundation of the Nazi regime.
Our Constitution is made of sturdier stuff. It has no self-destruct mechanism; the civil liberties it provides cannot be abolished by decree. And Congress alone cannot enact constitutional amendments. Instead, an amendment requires the approval of at least 38 states — which explains why they are so rare.
The last year has shown us how much damage a man of bad faith, bent on grabbing as much power as possible, can do to our democracy. And there is likely more damage yet to come. But thanks to the genius of our Constitution’s drafters and the resolve of much of our citizenry, I believe it will survive Donald Trump.
James Speyer is a lawyer and lives in Sharon.
Can it happen here?