[Usama Malik wrote this article before the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Although it does not reflect post-election events, Fair Observer believes the analysis remains insightful and relevant.]

The 2024 election exposed a deep fracture in American politics. The two parties, once distinct in their visions for the future, have shifted dramatically. The Democrats, traditionally the advocates of progress, labor and reform, now act as stewards of entrenched systems. Meanwhile, the MAGA Republicans have morphed into radical insurgents, eager to dismantle the very institutions they once held sacred. Each side reveals profound contradictions, which contributes to a political climate ripe for instability and disillusionment among the American people.

The Democrats: from reformers to guardians of elitism

Today’s Democratic Party is a far cry from the New Deal coalition that championed the working class and pursued a vision of broad-based economic prosperity. In their quest for electoral viability and influence, Democrats have realigned their loyalties, increasingly courting elite interests, corporate backing and technocratic governance. This shift is rooted in the Bill Clinton-era “third way,” which positioned the party away from labor and toward neoliberal policies that served corporate and financial elites. That realignment was successful in appealing to moderates, but it came at a cost: the alienation of working-class voters who once saw the Democratic Party as their voice.

Kamala Harris, who represented the Democratic Party in the 2024 Presidential election, exemplifies this realignment’s hollowness. Despite years of public service, her political record remains underwhelming, marred by a lackluster 2020 presidential campaign where she failed to gain traction even within her own party. When former President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline became apparent, the Democratic establishment chose Harris to step in, bypassing the primary process and imposing her candidacy on an ambivalent public. The absence of meaningful discourse with voters highlights the party’s insularity and growing distance from democratic principles it claims to uphold.

In foreign policy, the Democrats have also become more hawkish, increasingly embedded in the military-industrial complex they once opposed. Under the Biden administration, we saw continuous military support to longstanding allies, sometimes with scant regard for the ethical implications. The situation in Gaza further highlighted the party’s abandonment of progressive ideals. Tens of billions in military aid have flowed to Israel, facilitating policies that many view as nothing short of “genocidal.” Harris’s platitudes on the issue ring hollow to a youth increasingly disillusioned with what they see as American complicity in human rights abuses.

On social issues, Democrats continue to promote progressive identity politics, a realm in which they feel safest and most justified. However, this focus has alienated many voters who feel that economic issues affecting working-class communities are left unaddressed. Democrats have failed to adapt these social policies into a broader, inclusive vision that unites Americans beyond their identity groups. As a result, the party, in practice, appears to be conserving the very power structures they claim to challenge, committed more to maintaining their standing within the elite ranks than to fostering meaningful reform.

Trump and the MAGA Republicans: radical non-Conservatives

Contrasting starkly with the Democrats’ elite entrenchment, the MAGA Republicans are redefining conservatism by actively seeking to dismantle traditional institutions. US President Donald Trump epitomizes this shift, he led the GOP not as a conventional conservative, but as a figure who channels the resentment and frustration of Americans who feel betrayed by the political establishment. While Trump’s policy positions — particularly on trade, border control and a non-interventionist foreign policy — have remained consistent, his overarching ambition is to break down institutions he sees as obstacles to “America First” priorities.

Trump’s own psychological make-up informs much of his leadership style. Driven by a profound need for loyalty and validation, he has cultivated an environment where sycophancy is rewarded and dissent is swiftly punished. This transactional approach has extended beyond his personal relationships to the structure of government itself. His disdain for the so-called “deep state” and obsession with loyalty have culminated in plans to fire massive swathes of federal employees, aiming to root out what he perceives as entrenched opposition within America’s bureaucratic institutions.

Trump’s isolationist instincts also extend to international institutions. He regards the United Nations, NATO and other multilateral organizations with suspicion, perceiving them as burdens on American sovereignty and impediments to unilateral action. Unlike traditional conservatives, who valued these alliances as a means of maintaining global stability, Trump sees them as unnecessary obligations that drain American resources. His goal, to drastically scale back US involvement or to force other nations to pay their share, has reframed the GOP’s foreign policy in terms of economic advantage rather than shared values or global responsibility.

This brand of MAGA conservatism, however, is not without its dangers. Trump’s willingness to court ultra-nationalists and authoritarian figures like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu or India’s Narendra Modi raises alarms about his embrace of illiberal, even authoritarian tactics. He has amplified far-right elements within the party, normalizing dangerous ideologies that promote racial and ethnic division. His inflammatory rhetoric on immigration, race and national identity has emboldened extremist groups, threatening social cohesion and inciting violence. In his pursuit of a “restoration” of America, Trump has overlooked the moral imperatives that once grounded conservatism, instead creating a movement defined by grievance, retribution and divisive populism.

Democrats as conservatives and Republicans as radicals

In an ironic twist, the Democratic Party has become the true conservative force in American politics, clinging to established institutions, norms and global alliances. Though they champion social justice issues, the Democrats act as stewards of a regulatory state and global military network that remains fundamentally resistant to substantial reform. They have taken on the classical conservative role of preserving the status quo, ensuring the continuity of long-standing institutional structures.

On the other hand, the MAGA Republicans have abandoned their conservative roots, opting for a radical reimagining of American governance. Where traditional conservatism prized gradual change and respect for established norms, MAGA ideology seeks upheaval, favoring authoritarian solutions over democratic compromise. Trump’s GOP is fixated on “draining the swamp” and remaking American institutions in his image, embodying an approach to governance more akin to authoritarian populism than Burkean conservatism. The party’s embrace of illiberal elements and authoritarian figures underscores a disturbing shift toward extremism.

A crisis of integrity

The 2024 election underscored a crisis of integrity within both parties. The Democrats have sacrificed the progressive legacy of the New Deal and Great Society for corporate patronage, regulatory entrenchment and a global military presence. They have alienated the working class and embraced elite power structures, leaving a void where genuine reform once stood. Harris, the chosen heir to this legacy, embodied a political machine more focused on preserving its own power than on addressing the economic and social challenges facing the American people.

Meanwhile, the MAGA Republicans have adopted a brand of radicalism that threatens the fabric of American democracy. Trump’s GOP has become an insurgent force within American politics, dismantling institutions it views as impediments, often at the cost of democratic norms. The GOP’s courtship of far-right elements and disdain for traditional conservatism have pushed the party into dangerous territory, normalizing authoritarian tactics and divisive rhetoric.

This realignment has created a peculiar dynamic where neither party fully serves the interests of those seeking meaningful reform of failing institutions while preserving democratic stability. The Democrats’ reflexive defense of all institutions, even dysfunctional ones, alienates those seeking necessary change. The MAGA movement’s destructive impulses threaten to demolish vital democratic guardrails along with problematic bureaucracies.

The challenge ahead lies in finding a path that allows for meaningful institutional reform without descending into authoritarian chaos. This requires acknowledging both the legitimate grievances driving anti-institutional sentiment and the genuine need for stable democratic institutions. Until either party can chart such a course, American politics will remain trapped between institutional sclerosis and institutional destruction.

[Lee Thompson-Kolar edited this piece.]

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.