By
The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are
informed by expertise, research, debate, and certain longstanding values.
It is separate from the newsroom.
President Trump’s war with Iran is the most significant military action in American history that a president has undertaken without any form of congressional authorization.
Yes, past presidents have often pushed the bounds of their constitutional authority in using the military. Nonetheless, they have typically involved Congress for anything more than a brief attack. Sometimes, Congress passed a bill formally approving action, as was the case in Iraq in both 2002 and 1991, Afghanistan in 2001, and Vietnam in 1964. In other instances, such as Korea in the 1950s, Congress offered de facto approval by passing bills that provided additional resources for the military action. Mr. Trump has received no approval whatsoever from Congress, the only branch of government with the constitutional authority to declare war.
The New York Times editorial board is tracking 12 categories of democratic erosion in the United States, based on historical patterns and interviews with experts. Our index places the United States on a scale of 0 to 10 for each category. Zero represents the United States before Mr. Trump began his second term — not perfect, surely, but one of the world’s healthiest democracies. Ten represents the condition in a true autocracy, such as China, Iran, and Russia. Based on the war with Iran, we are moving our assessment of one of the categories — bypassing the legislature — up one notch, to Level 5:
Over the past two and a half months, Mr. Trump has ordered thousands of strikes against another country and killed its leader. The war has roiled global energy markets and drained American munitions stockpiles. Yet despite its scope and stakes, the president continues to show disdain for members of Congress who ask questions about the war and has not even provided a coherent rationale for it.
Congressional Republicans deserve significant responsibility for the situation. They could and should do much more to constrain him. Congress could pass a resolution expressing its disapproval of the war and hold hearings investigating it, raising the political pressure on the White House. It could refuse to confirm nominees or fund Mr. Trump’s military priorities until he adheres to his constitutional duty to work with the legislature. Otherwise, members of Congress are participating in America’s slide from democracy.
Background and methodology: The clearest sign that a democracy has died is that a leader and his party make it impossible for their opponents to win an election and hold power. Once that stage is reached, however, the change is extremely difficult to reverse.
The 12 benchmarks in this editorial offer a way to understand how much Mr. Trump is eroding American democracy. The categories are based on interviews with legal scholars, political scientists, historians, and other democracy experts. The ratings come from the New York Times editorial board. In our 0-to-10 scales, zero represents roughly where the United States, flawed though it was, had been under presidents of both parties prior to Mr. Trump. Ten represents the condition in a true authoritarian state. Moving even one notch toward autocracy is a worrisome sign.
We first published the index in October. This version is the second update. We plan to publish future updates as events warrant.
Photograph by Damon Winter/The New York Times
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