Illiberal But Weak Liberalism
By Sean Evans, Chair and Professor of Political Science
Apr 25, 2025 -
One of the major debates between Reagan conservatives and Trump conservatives is whether we live in normal or revolutionary times. Trump conservatives believe the left is using its command of major social institutions to impose totalitarian multiculturalism. This threat demands an immediate and aggressive response to defeat that authoritarianism. While the Trump conservatives’ assessment of progressive control of institutions is correct, they make a mistake by overestimating the left’s power and thus overreact.
First, progressivism clearly exerts disproportionate influence over major social institutions. Federal government bureaucrats, academics, journalists, and the entertainment industry are disproportionately liberal, while corporate America has moved left, especially on social issues.
Second, these institutions advance progressive causes. Progressives, for example, use the government to advance DEI, coerce transgender bathroom policies, prevent schools from telling parents their child is transgender, and teach transgender theory to kindergartners.
Universities teach that U.S. history and institutions are predominantly about racism and oppression. The entertainment industry normalizes LGBTQ+ behavior and portrays religion more negatively and evangelicals as hypocritical and judgmental. The American Bar Association (ABA) supports a broad range of liberal policies and uses accreditation policies to push law schools to the left. Finally, corporate America has adopted progressive racial, environmental, and social policies.
Third, progressives sometimes use illiberal means to advance their cause. Progressives “cancel” conservative speakers because free speech is a tool of the dominant class, and we need to hear the voices of the disadvantaged. Progressives harass dissenters to the LGBTQ+ agenda and call religious opponents bigots, which makes it easier to punish them. Corporate America has tried to blackmail states into opposing conservative transgender and voting policies through economic boycotts. Progressive presidents selectively enforce drug and immigration laws and use the administrative state to impose major policies Congress will not approve. They challenge the right of parents to raise their children. Progressives try to sideline or override religion, the one major institution they do not control.
From this perspective, the Trump Administration’s actions make sense. They are bull-DOGEing the administrative state, repealing DEI mandates, restricting transgenderism, coercing universities to change, punishing liberal law firms, challenging the liberal media, taking over cultural institutions, and deporting illegal immigrants. At a minimum, these actions are designed to force these institutions to become neutral in the culture wars. At best, government action will reshape the culture and promote more conservative ideas.
There are several problems with the conservative assessment. First, the left is not as powerful as some conservatives believe. Progressives compose about 29% of the public and cannot coerce the other 70%. Thus, the nation repeatedly rejects progressive overreach at the ballot box.
History shows the most successful social movements, like the Civil Rights Movement, are based on widely accepted American ideas such as liberty, equality, and
self-government. Those movements that seek to overturn the system run counter to these cultural ideals, are seen as less legitimate, and are likely to fail.
Furthermore, major institutions are less trusted and less powerful than ever before. College students are more ideologically diverse than their professors. They are very adept at recognizing biased professors, writing what they think the professor wants for a grade, and ridiculing the professor and ideas outside of class. Woke entertainment fails at the box office, a “high choice” media environment allows people to view media that reflects their interests, and more conservative news and entertainment outlets are emerging. A politicized bar association is losing members and influence.
Second, recent history shows progressivism is not inevitable because it repeatedly discredits itself. Progressive criminal justice legislation like defunding the police, bail reform, and not prosecuting certain crimes backfires. Even progressive jurisdictions oust progressive prosecutors. Corporations are rolling back DEI policies due to legal and political pressure. Liberal legal advocacy led to a conservative counterrevolution that mainstreamed originalism and created conservative legal groups to fight the left. Research shows that wokeism rises and falls, does not change many minds, has little substantive impact, and creates a backlash that benefits conservatives.
Third, fighting illiberalism with illiberalism only leads to more illiberalism. Trump’s aggressive executive actions are likely to be met by more aggressive actions by the next Democratic president. However, those actions will be aimed at conservative groups. This will not end well for anyone.
Revolutionary times may call for revolutionary actions, but these are not revolutionary times. Trump should follow the lead of conservative states legislating against progressive overreach through innovative reforms that ban DEI, reform higher education, protect girls, empower parents, and expand school choice. By building coalitions to pass legislation, they produce more enduring reforms than executive orders that a new president can revoke.
Submitted to The Jackson Sun on April 24, 2025