Institutions Under Siege - Donald Trump’s Attack on the Deep State
John. L. Campbell, Cambridge University Press, £22.99

UNLIKE democratic government, which is elected by and accountable to its citizens, the deep state operates behind the scenes without having gone through the electoral process. 

Usually, institutional change means systems moving slowly and incrementally, but when Donald Trump occupied the White House, this concept was overturned — change was rapid and radical and became part of the legacy of Trump’s presidency.

In his book, Institutions Under Siege, leading political sociologist John Campbell, Emeritus Professor at Dartmouth College, uses a combination of solid evidence and innovative thinking to demonstrate how Trump undermined most of the key US democratic institutions, and goes on to sharply analyse the damage done. 

Americans were fed up and disillusioned with politics and political stalemate and this enabled Trump to surf a wave of discontent that took him to the White House. He was a completely different character from those who usually stand for election — an outsider declaring himself populist, patriotic, and determined to “make America great again.”

John Campbell reveals how, once in power, Trump cut deals, bullied, acted in distrustful, arrogant and self-centred ways, taking advantage of situations Campbell describes as “tipping points” and through which he drove dramatic, radical change. 

Tipping points, Campbell argues, emerge gradually rather than suddenly, and are part of growing public dissatisfaction. Those in leadership roles often spot trends and help exacerbate tipping points, upon which they then capitalise. 

Political leaders don’t simply inherit tipping points, but can, and do help to create them from the very start. 

2008 was a tipping point caused by the financial crisis, plus Barack Obama’s election which resulted in political gridlock. The failings of neoliberalism led to an ideological polarisation of politics, which meant many voters were more inclined to be taken in by fake news and were steered towards conservative extremes. 

Trump repeatedly did this. 

For example, take the Big Lie — a tipping point that grew from the gradual accumulation of doubt about election probity that Trump contributed to, through continuous claims of voter fraud in the 2016 and 2022 election campaigns, before he finally weaponised those claims for his own purposes. 

Many different tipping points are exposed within headings such as Blind Justice, You’re Fired, Economic Rocket Fuel, The Big Lie. In the detailed examination of Damage Assessment, it’s reassuring to read that in spite of Trump’s abhorrent three fold strategy, Divide, Divert, Conquer, sometimes institutions were able to stymie his extreme desires. The courts, for example, refused to concede to his challenges in the 2020 elections mainly because there was insufficient evidence to uphold his allegations. 

When looking at checks and balances among different branches of government, Campbell makes the rather surprising observation that Trump could have more easily had his way in a political system like Britain where power is more concentrated in the executive and legislative branches with fewer veto points.

Campbell, using carefully gathered evidence to support his hypothesis, reveals just how Trump did this, corrupting democratic culture and creating severe damage. For example, he packed the federal courts with an excess of conservative judges, including solidifying a majority in the high court that was appointed to do his bidding. 

Anyone working in the federal bureaucracy who didn’t agree with the President was sacked, thus creating an administration packed with sycophants, feeding Trump with news and facts that he wanted to hear. Trump also concocted tax cuts that increased economic inequalities by disproportionately rewarding the wealthy. 

A near total lack of commitment to democratic rules was one reason why Trump refused to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election, denied the legitimacy of the political opposition, and sometimes encouraged violent action. The corruption of democratic culture created irreparable harm, for which tipping points proved to be the major enablers.

In this thoughtful, well-argued book, Campbell concludes that Trump’s attack on the US’s institutions was unprecedented, and predicts that many of the consequences are likely to be enduring. Even though at present, Trump is not in the White House, his presidency could have set the stage for an even more disastrous sequel. This book demonstrates why the people of America must use their democratic voice to ensure this never happens.