The turbulent end of Donald Trump’s administration only reinforced something we’ve known for some time: the American political system is deep in crisis. While most of the country was horrified by the events of January 6, when Trump’s most committed followers stormed the US Capitol in a failed attempt to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory, a substantial faction of the Republican Party seems willing to deepen its commitment to Trump-style politics and a fundamentally antidemocratic program. It seems certain that the coming years will be defined by sharp conflicts and perhaps incidents of political violence, mainly coming from the far right.

Is there any way out of this deadlock? The legal scholar Aziz Rana argues that the crisis can be traced to the undemocratic nature of America’s constitutional order, and that only a comprehensive program of democratic reform can avert a slide toward authoritarianism. He recently sat down with contributing editor Chris Maisano to discuss the current political situation and the kind of constitutional program the democratic socialist left should advance today.