Groningen professor: Trump’s election win is a blow to democracy in the U.S.

Donald Trump’s victory in the election is not good news for American democracy, according to Jelte Olthof, a Assistant Professor of American Studies at the University of Groningen (RUG). If the Republicans also gain a majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives, Trump will not have anything in his way of implementing policy as president, said Olthof. "You have to ask yourself to what extent Americans still find democracy important, now that they have voted for Trump."

Trump has won the presidential election, almost all American media outlets have reported. The Republicans are also more or less assured of winning a majority in the Senate. It is not clear yet who is the victor in the House of Representatives, where the Republicans are defending a slight majority.

According to Olthof, the Senate and the House are meant to critically monitor the president's policies and operate independently from their party, but there have been little signs of this over the past decades. "What you've seen for the past 20 or 30 years is that factions in the House and Senate, in particular, are now acting as an extension of the president. They are actually more concerned with implementing presidential policy than with their task as legislators."

A republican majority in Congress would, in principle, make it easier for Trump to fulfill his election promises, Olthof expects.

One of his promises is to combat illegal immigration. "But federal legislation is a slow process," the professor adds. "Other presidents with such a majority have not always brought about earth-shattering policy changes. But it could happen. They could start building the wall, they could start mass deportations. But, there too, you have the problem that it is very complicated in terms of implementation."

Olthof is predicting that this will be a very tough time for the Democrats in Congress. "With that majority, it works in such a way that it is very difficult to intervene. There are Republicans in all committees. Your means to stop something are very limited, and the time for debates in the House can also be restricted. It cannot be compared to the opposition in the Netherlands, where you are given space for your story."