cover of episode Trump and the Crisis of Liberalism

Trump and the Crisis of Liberalism

2024/11/21
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The Foreign Affairs Interview

People
D
Dan Kurtz-Fallin
D
Dan Kurtz-Phelan
F
Francis Fukuyama
Topics
Dan Kurtz-Phelan指出,支持哈里斯的人对经济不满情绪压倒了对全球民主的支持感到意外。特朗普的胜利之际,全球民主动荡,选民普遍对现任领导人表达不满,自由主义正在衰退甚至面临危机。美国大选是全球所有选举中最重要的,它将为全球政治设定未来的模式。 Fukuyama认为,特朗普的胜利对全球民主不利,鼓舞了奥尔班、普京等不致力于自由民主形式的政治领导人,并可能导致欧洲其他民粹主义政党效仿,全球其他地区也可能出现效仿者。他认为自由民主是一种由民主(对民众负责)和自由(对国家权力进行限制)两部分组成的政治制度,民粹主义者对自由民主的威胁主要在于削弱法治,而非民主本身,因为他们大多是合法当选的。民粹主义者试图通过操纵法院、恐吓记者、重组官僚机构等方式来规避对其权力的制衡。特朗普当选不会导致法西斯主义,而是会逐渐侵蚀美国的自由主义制度,但由于美国与匈牙利不同,拥有更复杂的社会结构和制衡机制,这将限制特朗普的能力。蓝州和其他地区将对特朗普的政策进行强烈反弹。特朗普的一些政策(例如普遍关税和驱逐移民)可能适得其反,从而引发强烈反弹。美国民主制度仍然能够运作,2026年中期选举可能会导致共和党下台。 Fukuyama认为新自由主义经济政策的失败是自由主义危机最重要的原因之一。人们更关心通货膨胀而不是就业,拜登政府的产业政策对就业有益,但规模不大,民众没有感受到其影响,而通货膨胀却严重影响了工薪阶层的生计。产业政策是一个长期项目,因此拜登政府的政策未能带来明显的政治效益。新冠疫情导致政府失去公信力,加剧了民众对现任政府的不满,许多政府在应对疫情时犯了错误。许多蓝州学校停课时间过长,这使得民众认为政府更关注利益集团而非儿童福祉。疫情期间的封锁加剧了进步主义的反弹,并引发了右翼的反弹。特朗普当选并没有促使美国制度发生改变和适应,这表明美国制度僵化。2008年金融危机和新冠疫情等重大事件未能促使美国制度改革,这表明美国制度僵化,难以适应变化。美国制度僵化,难以进行改革,这体现了政治衰败。政治衰败是指制度变得僵化,无法适应变化。特朗普在第一任期内未能实现许多目标,因为他更换了大量政府官员。特朗普政府可能恢复“F级制度”,将所有联邦公务员置于随时被解雇的状态,这将对政府的专业性和廉洁性造成严重威胁。美国的国内政治分裂已经削弱了其国际地位,即使经济和军事实力强大,如果没有共识,这些资源也无法有效利用。美国的国内政治分裂削弱了其在乌克兰问题上和对华关系上的国际信誉。

Deep Dive

Chapters
The 2024 U.S. presidential election results and its impact on global democracy are discussed. The author assesses the year of elections and Trump's victory's implications for liberal democracy at home and abroad. The crisis of liberalism is also examined.
  • Trump's victory celebrated by illiberal leaders like Orban and Putin
  • Concerns about the impact on Europe and other regions
  • The definition of liberal democracy and its two parts: democracy and liberalism
  • The threat to the rule of law by illiberal populists

Shownotes Transcript

Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election comes at a moment of turbulence for global democracy. It’s been a year marked by almost universal backlash against incumbent leaders by voters apparently eager to express their anger with the status quo—and also an era when liberalism has been in retreat, if not in crisis.

Francis Fukuyama, a political scientist at Stanford University, has done as much as anyone to elucidate the currents shaping and reshaping global politics. He wrote The End of History and the Last Man, a seminal work of post–Cold War political theory, more than three decades ago. And in the years since, he has written a series of influential essays for Foreign Affairs and other publications. 

He joins Editor Dan Kurtz-Phelan to consider what Trump’s return to the presidency means for liberal democracy—and whether its future, in the United States and around the world, is truly at stake.

You can find sources, transcripts, and more episodes of The Foreign Affairs Interview at https://www.foreignaffairs.com/podcasts/foreign-affairs-interview).