Are Democrats socialists is one of the most repeated political slogans in modern conservative media, but repetition is not proof. Some conservative political rhetoric describes Democrats as socialists or claims their policies are socialist. The label is best evaluated by comparing specific Democratic policies and party positions with definitions of socialism and the structure of
Constitution not the man is a useful way to describe a basic constitutional principle: public officials hold offices created and limited by law, and their formal oaths are to the Constitution rather than to an individual political leader. Patriotism can mean different things to different people. For public officials, however, constitutional duties are defined by
Patriotism and personal political loyalty can come into tension when loyalty to a political leader conflicts with constitutional duties or institutional rules. Public officials swear duties to the Constitution and the law rather than to any individual officeholder. The public record provides concrete examples of disputes over personal loyalty, institutional independence, election administration, and legal
Claims about a “Deep State” appear often in American political debate. The term can refer to different ideas, from ordinary bureaucratic resistance to allegations that unelected officials secretly coordinate to defeat elected leaders. Those are very different claims, and they should not be accepted or rejected simply because of the label. The useful question is:
