Trust in government continues to decline

In 1958, the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan fact tank, launched the National Election Study in order to understand public attitudes towards their federal government. Today, trust in government is at its lowest point in 70 years. This is an alarming fact driven in pertinent part by political polarization and exacerbated by the events surrounding the culmination of the tumultuous Trump presidency.

Many Republicans continue to deny the validity of the 2020 election; that attitude is the greatest threat to the future of American democracy. For democracy to function, public trust in free and fair elections matters much more than fidelity to the MAGA movement.

There is more to it. The reason the Trump years, like the Nixon years, caused American attitudes to shift was in large part because of abuse of power. The concept of checks and balances was conceived to constrain a central executive, an idea that bothered the anti-Federalists during the constitutional convention of 1787. Presidents of both parties have sought to expand power in myriad ways: exploiting the bully pulpit, mastering the bureaucracy, and expanding the administrative state through executive orders.

That is expected and useful as presidential scholar Richard Neustadt observes in his seminal work “Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents.” But what caused Americans to lose favor in their government under Nixon was his blatant disregard for restraint in order to adhere to the rule of law.

The same is true of Trump, whose current legal predicaments demonstrate his willful disregard for his oath of office. The electorate will tolerate abuse of power only for so long. In Nixon’s case, his own political party turned on him; in Trump’s case, the voters did.

In Arkansas, many of the same aspects of abuse of power are playing out in Little Rock. A lot has already been written about the perplexing transaction involving the governor’s purchase of a $19,000 lectern. It first sounded like a “Saturday Night Live” comedy sketch, but is in fact serious, to the point of raising meaningful concerns about whether state crimes have been committed.

Smartly, Republicans in the General Assembly referred the matter to Legislative Audit since it involves the expenditure of state funds.

That review, conducted by licensed accounting professionals and not partisan politicians, will be an important investigation particularly if transparency and accountability still matter in Arkansas government. I raise that point because, as with Trump, Gov. Sarah Sanders’ lavish taxpayer spending, affinity for private plane rides, and an unconscionable attempt to amend the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act to avoid disclosing any of these

matters to taxpayers suggests that accountability has taken a back seat to entitlement and opacity.

Abuse of power can happen in one fell swoop or incrementally. It can involve the criminal act of breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee; absconding with classified government documents; or misusing taxpayer funds to pay for a lectern than may in fact be for something else entirely while doctoring records to cover it up.

To be sure, if the governor had a reasonable explanation for the matter, she would have shared it by now. It is glaringly apparent that her initial justification— that it was an “accounting error”—holds little credibility. At least one staffer at the Department of Transformation and Shared Services blind-copied their personal email on matters pertaining to the lectern, and a whistle-blower has come forward represented by attorney Tom Mars.

This is no longer a local issue.

National media outlets from The New York Times to Newsmax have recognized its importance. That will continue, particularly as the genesis of this story, Matt Campbell of the Arkansas-based Blue Hog Report, furthers his essential work in the spirit of public responsibility.

There is a bigger story here, and eventually it will come out. It always does. In the meantime, Arkansawyers should take a hard look at the facts and question whether it is appropriate for the governor to use taxpayer funds and state resources only as she sees fit and without regard to state procurement rules, taxpayer accountability, or state and federal law.

An off-putting sense of Trumpera entitlement has infected Arkansas politics. It is not for the betterment of the state, and it is worthwhile for the people of our state, regardless of political affiliation, to determine whether their sensibility and values system supports it. After all, the Arkansas Constitution does not consider the governor a monarch or an authoritarian, but by its plain language an elected servant of “We the People.”