Our all-too-familiar former President Trump will be back in office in the new year, but what should we expect? The party switch from a Republican administration to a Democratic one is a consistent pendulum of back-and-forth, but could this presidency mean a permanent change to our democracy?

Here is how some University of Oregon students and alumni feel about the next four years. 

“I am curious as to how the political landscape is going to change over the next four years and how foundational American values of democracy and freedom may be contested under the new Trump administration,” senior Shealy Gibbs said. 

Shireef Hussein, a UO graduate from the class of 2024 said, “Everyone is just very reactive and not very logical” in today’s political climate. However, he noted that “people think that we’re doomed, which I understand, but that’s been the feeling for almost every decade and here we still are.” 

UO senior Joshua Martin remarks, “I am confident in our country. My grandpa ran for governor in the state of Oregon and explained the times differently. Candidates would debate on the stage and right after, they would shake another one’s hand, win or lose with respect for the other, and respect the views of all voters and the people. I think that is where we need to be in 10 years.” 

Julia Woolf, a UO senior, expressed that although she identifies as “liberal-leaning,” she said, “I don’t feel I identify with the Democratic Party’s views of the right or the doomsday narrative. It feels like our democracy is set up to be divisive because a lot of people cannot have healthy debates anymore.” 

From these students, recurring questions and concerns appeared. 

1) Polarization and extremism are pressing concerns. Will Americans move toward compromise or will polarization separate us further?

Rachel Kleinfeld’s paper, “Polarization, Democracy, and Political Violence in the United States” highlights that while Americans are less ideologically polarized than perceived, emotional polarization (or “affective polarization”) remains high. Politically engaged individuals often misjudge the extent of polarization, contributing to divisions.

That is not to say that our country is in a downward spiral. We now have an opportunity to rethink biases and prejudices against people with different political beliefs and find a middle ground built on respect rather than blame and finger-pointing. 

Martin notes that our political climate is “divided and still (has) a long way to go but I think we are on the right track, regardless of the outcomes in elections, coming together and removing the extreme sides of things.” 

Woolf said that “We will probably never agree about some things…and we need to accept that and coexist in peace.”

2) How much of an effect will Trump’s presidency have on our democracy? 

Author and professor at the University of Georgia, Cas Mudde, argues in “Will Donald Trump destroy U.S. democracy? Unlikely,” that the United States political system is “complex and rigid…largely set up to prevent tyranny” and “it is almost impossible to change the constitution.” 

He adds, “This does not mean that Trump cannot significantly weaken liberal democracy, but he will have to do it with weaker instruments (like executive orders) and with significant judicial pushback.”

AP News journalist, Calvin Woodward points out in “Trump has vowed to shake some of democracy’s pillars,” that “by early measures, it was a clean election, just like 2020,” and therefore “if some or all of these tenets of modern democracy,” such as government power to enforce statutes, keeping judicial and presidential power separate, “are to fall, it will be through the most democratic of means.”

3) How can Americans overcome ideological differences and engage in respectful conversations? 

Among the students I interviewed, most expressed concern over Americans’ inability to respect people of another party, and how it has become normal to “hate” people based on their vote. 

I don’t claim to have the perfect solution, but I urge readers to look inward before pointing fingers. 

We are all part of our democracy and its problems, regardless of how politically uninvolved or outspoken we are. 

To be respectful is the first social norm we should re-normalize in our daily lives to get our political climate back on track and allow for more peaceful conversations and respectful cross-side political discourse.