“Norms are rules for accepted and expected behavior. Norms prescribe “proper” behavior, in a different sense of the word norms also describe what most others do — what is normal.”
Many people
are concerned with the decisions our president, Donald Trump, is making. But why are these concerns actually worrying everyday people – especially those of the democratic party? As we know and have heard from our radios and televisions, Trump has been speaking to foreign leaders and has dismissed concerns that are conflicting with the interests of the people. In the article , “ ‘An Erosion of Democratic Norms in America’ ”, a Dartmouth College political scientist, Brendan Nyhan, was interviewed to get his views on Trump. Brendan in the articles describes Trump’s behavior as, “a candidate willing to endorse violence against political opponents as a failure to American institutions to safeguard political norms.”
A democratic norm that Trump seemed to abide against was speaking out against the protestors. The protestors were ons that are anti-Trump, which has then lead to the many breakdowns Trump has had. We obviously have all seen these breakdowns wether it was on his social media feed (Twitter especially) and even the news. These breakdowns show how Trump will carry himself and also will cause problems involving the norms that have been abided by in the previous power of the executive branch. Another set of norms that Trump is violating are those ethnic backgrounds of the people whom are going to be in power. People now just need to wait for the right moment to speak out against the different attributes, such as the bills and everything that are being passed on, that is happening in the white house now.
This connects to the journal article I read in regards to the norms within social media. Social media is one where people normally use it to express their emotions with things going on around them. As well as pictures and comments to friends in order to express what they do in their daily lives. Trump uses social media for political and also defensive ways. He backlashes on people who tend to have problems with him rather than address them face to face. He is breaking the presidential norms of social media, no other president has taken to social media to address problems with other people.
Although Trump and the republican party can push things through, it would be in their best interest to keep the norms of democracy in mind in order to keep all Americans happy. When Americans are happy we tend to work together more rather than when we are divided. From the election till now, Trump has split families apart due to the way they wanted to vote and especially for the many changes Trump wants to make.
When talking about political norms, the reference is to informal conventions or standards that are upheld without enforcement by law. Basically, one of the most sacred norms here is to make sure that there shall be a fair electoral process. Due to the facts of the different “norms” here that are being looked past, and not taken into consideration former presidents decided to speak out.
“The Republican Party has already fallen at his feet — why would he change his approach when he has been given no political reason to do so?” says Nyhan. Well, the conclusion to this is that Trump does have a chance to be normalized but in fact he must first act like a normal politician.
Norms are indefinitely everywhere, especially in politics. When in politics, people see norms as being an everyday thing because everyone in the world is curious to see how our country is being run. With president Trump breaking many of these norms in politics its creating a lot of controversy in which needs to be fixed. Especially fixed in person and rather not over social media.
Foran, Clare. “‘An Erosion Of Democratic Norms In America'”. The Atlantic. N.p., 2017. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.
Myers, David G, and Jean M Twenge. Exploring Social Psychology. Print.
Hock, Karlo, and Nina H. Fefferman. “Violating Social Norms When Choosing Friends: How Rule-Breakers Affect Social Networks”. PLOS ONE. N.p., 2017. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.Blog Post Trump & Norms Ne-13qcqyv