'Exploiting loopholes': Red state expert sounds alarm on 'democratic backsliding'

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas public administration professor Chris Koliba has it on good authority that federal governments need major change now and then.

It was President Thomas Jefferson who suggested every generation ought to engage in its own version of revolution, but Koliba said the primary author of the Declaration of Independence didn’t literally recommend national governments should be ruthlessly splintered and recast from scratch again and again.

“What he meant was that as societies evolve, become more complex and new problems arise the chances to refresh and renew some of the fundamental principles and practices in the way government operates are necessary,” Koliba said.

The misinterpretation of Jefferson and erosion of foundational rules and standards of democracy has become an international crisis, he said. The latest action by President Donald Trump to challenge longstanding principles of democratic government demonstrated how quickly the American system could be unraveled, Koliba said.

The list of at-risk framework pieces in the United States included adherence to constitutional obligations, separation of powers, scientific reason, thoughtful regulation, individual rights and promotion of tolerance, he said.

“We’re in an era now that’s been characterized in the political science literature as democratic backsliding — the deconstruction of some of the democratic norms that guided the administration of American society for generations,” Koliba said. “We are seeing a reformation of democratic institutions at the federal level that could fundamentally alter the nature of our democracy.”

“If we start to lose these foundational ideas, what are we left with? We’re left with a highly politicized apparatus that is then subject to the whims of authoritative movements,” he said.

A majority of the six-person Kansas delegation in Congress, however, repeatedly expressed enthusiasm for Trump’s aggressive overhaul of the federal government. That point was driven home as U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, the 1st District Republican, responded to Trump’s recent speech to the House and Senate.

“America is back!” Mann said. “President Trump’s address laid out a clear vision for our country as we work to secure the border, reduce federal spending, cut taxes and restore America’s role on the world stage. I am eager to work with him to make it happen. Promises made, promises kept.”

Professional appeal

On the Kansas Reflector podcast, Koliba delved into an editorial he published in the Journal of Public Affairs Education in response to the global barrage of norm-threatening conduct by government leaders. He urged the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, which accredits public administration programs, to strengthen teaching standards to embolden democratic standards relied upon to shape the profession.

Populist movements on the right and left have been advancing agendas contrary to core ideals of public administration by conflating of truths with opinions, perpetuation of organizing lying and pedaling of dangerous conspiracies, he said. These attacks on democracy were designed to undermine trust and confidence in the bureaucracy within democratic government in the United States and elsewhere, he said.

“I argue that our accreditation standards are not explicit enough in their dedication to democratic values. They are vague and leave things open to interpretation,” Koliba said.

For example, he said, academic standards for public administration touched on constitutional obligations but that language fell short because the duty to adhere to the state or federal constitution wasn’t acknowledged as a bulwark foundation principle.

Accreditation standards ought to clearly emphasize for students of public administration the necessity of improving the effectiveness of government services in response to societal needs, he said.

Ripple effects

This aspirational approach to work of government had implications from meat inspections at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to clean water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, tax audits at the Internal Revenue Service, military readiness at the U.S. Department of Defense, criminal investigations at the U.S. Department of Justice and hundreds of other federal responsibilities.

“There’s a lot of things the government does on our behalf that are right below the surface, right below our radar screens,” Koliba said. “There’s so many things that government services provide that we have taken for granted. We’ll see how deep these cuts go and how sustained they are.”

Koliba, director of KU’s Center for Democratic Governance, said undemocratic trends were occurring in established democracies around the world in one way, shape or form. Domestically, the spotlight has been directed at the jarring work of Trump and billionaire Elon Musk to downsize the federal workforce, dismantle federal agencies and programs and slash federal expenditures often without approval of the legislative branch.

“Much has been written about the state of democracy in the United States and around the world. We’re seeing certain leaders pressing the margins and exploiting loopholes in our democratic system,” he said.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.