tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/vice-president-mike-pence-72006/articlesVice President Mike Pence – The Conversation2022-10-25T12:29:29Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1930612022-10-25T12:29:29Z2022-10-25T12:29:29ZDemocratic and Republican voters both love civility – but the bipartisan appeal is partly because nobody can agree on what civility is<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491180/original/file-20221023-35106-6mu0km.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=194%2C414%2C8451%2C5340&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">This illustration shows the lack of civility in American politics.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/concept-of-american-opinion-fractured-before-royalty-free-illustration/1250035478?phrase=gop%20democrats%20fighting&adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When former Vice President Mike Pence declared, in a speech to a conservative group, that “<a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3696448-pence-advocates-for-healthy-doses-of-civility-as-georgetown-speech-draws-protests/">democracy depends on heavy doses of civility</a>,” several attendees stood up and walked out of the Georgetown University auditorium. </p>
<p>That speech came just three weeks before the midterm elections as commentators and candidates around the country were <a href="https://tucson.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/civility-in-elections-declining-as-political-polarization-rises/article_fe8b4eee-8669-5553-b18d-2d1717d98ce2.html">calling</a> <a href="https://www.yankton.net/opinion/editorials/article_583d16f4-49cc-11ed-bdd3-7b12414628b4.html">for</a> <a href="https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2022/09/27/you-can-make-a-difference-bring-back-civility-when-you-vote/">greater</a> <a href="https://politics.georgetown.edu/2022/07/28/battleground-civility-poll-new-poll-shows-near-universal-concern-over-level-of-political-division-and-high-levels-of-self-segregation/">civility in politics</a>.</p>
<p>This is no surprise.</p>
<p>Civility is popular with the American people. Across the political spectrum, citizens <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/18/americans-say-the-nations-political-debate-has-grown-more-toxic-and-heated-rhetoric-could-lead-to-violence/">agree that politics has become dangerously toxic</a>, and they think the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/04/far-more-americans-see-very-strong-partisan-conflicts-now-than-in-the-last-two-presidential-election-years/">problem</a> is <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-02-03/poll-voters-say-politics-is-less-civil-a-year-into-biden-term">worsening</a>. </p>
<p>That is one political issue we all agree on – democracy needs to regain civility. If it’s going to, the effort has to start with each of us individually, rather than waiting for someone else to make the first move. </p>
<h2>Bipartisan hypocrisy</h2>
<p>This unanimity that more civility is needed in politics may be an illusion.</p>
<p>Citizens tend to lay the blame for political incivility solely on their <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/19/partisans-say-respect-and-compromise-are-important-in-politics-particularly-from-their-opponents/">political opponents</a>. They want civility in politics, but say they think compromise is a one-way street. </p>
<p>They want politicians to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2019/01/16/many-americans-say-they-want-politicians-to-compromise-but-maybe-they-dont/">work together</a>, but also want the opposition to capitulate.</p>
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<img alt="A middle-aged man with gray hair wearing a navy blue suit with red necktie sits in a television studio." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491183/original/file-20221023-7706-jm8rmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491183/original/file-20221023-7706-jm8rmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491183/original/file-20221023-7706-jm8rmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491183/original/file-20221023-7706-jm8rmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491183/original/file-20221023-7706-jm8rmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491183/original/file-20221023-7706-jm8rmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491183/original/file-20221023-7706-jm8rmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Former Vice President Mike Pence visits Fox News on Oct. 19, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/former-u-s-vice-president-mike-pence-visits-america-reports-news-photo/1434798790?phrase=mike%20pence%20vice%20president&adppopup=true">Shannon Finney/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>They value civility, but hold that their partisan rivals are uniformly <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/08/09/as-partisan-hostility-grows-signs-of-frustration-with-the-two-party-system/pp_2022-08-09_partisan-hostility_00-01/">immoral, dishonest and close-minded</a>. </p>
<p>Pence reflected these us-versus-them attitudes himself during his Georgetown speech when he claimed that powerful institutions have “<a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3696448-pence-advocates-for-healthy-doses-of-civility-as-georgetown-speech-draws-protests/">locked arms to advance a woke agenda designed to advance the policies and beliefs of the American left</a>.”</p>
<h2>Defining civility</h2>
<p>Despite the multiple pleas for civility, little is said about what civility is. </p>
<p>That probably explains why civility is so popular.</p>
<p>Each citizen gets to define the term in their own way, and no one believes their own side to be uncivil. But if we believe that the U.S. needs to restore civility, we must define it.</p>
<p>It cannot be the demand to always remain calm in political debate. It’s generally good to keep one’s cool, of course. But when engaging in political disagreement, it’s not always possible to do so.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-political-opinions-change/">political opinions</a> typically reflect deeply held values and commitments about justice. We tend to regard those who disagree with us about such matters as not merely on the other side of the issue, but on the wrong side. We should expect disagreements about important matters to get heated.</p>
<p>Civility might be better understood as the avoidance of undue hostility and gratuitous animosity in political debate. This could be something as simple as calling out inflated rhetoric, as <a href="https://youtu.be/jrnRU3ocIH4">John McCain famously did</a> during his presidential campaign when his supporters claimed that Barack Obama was untrustworthy and not an American. </p>
<p>This idea acknowledges that heated debates can be appropriate within reason. It allows for some degree of antagonism, while at the same time prohibiting unnecessary vitriol. </p>
<p>In a sense, this makes civility a matter of judging whether our subject’s behavior calls for an escalation of hostility. The problem is that, when it comes to evaluating the behavior of our opponents, we are remarkably poor judges.</p>
<h2>Partisan civility</h2>
<p>Americans’ assessment of political behavior tightly tracks our partisan allegiances. </p>
<p>We cut our allies slack while holding our opponents to very high standards. When our allies engage in objectionable behavior, we excuse them. But when members of the opposition engage in the same behavior, we condemn them. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-015-9313-9">In one experiment</a>, when partisans were told of an ally stealing an opposing candidate’s campaign signs off neighborhood lawns, they chalked it up to political integrity. But when those same partisans were told that an opponent had stolen their signs, they condemned the act as undemocratic.</p>
<p>We over-ascribe <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/10/10/partisan-antipathy-more-intense-more-personal/">hostility, dishonesty and untrustworthiness</a> to our political opponents. Consequently, we will almost always see fit to escalate hostility when interacting with our opposition. When civility is understood as the avoidance of unnecessary rancor, it fails.</p>
<p>I’ve argued in my recent book “<a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/sustaining-democracy-9780197556450?cc=us&lang=en&">Sustaining Democracy</a>” that civility isn’t really about how we conduct disagreements with political opponents.</p>
<p>Instead, civility has to do with how people formulate their own political ideas. </p>
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<img alt="A donkey and an elephant are seen in a boxing ring that is covered with Election Day bunting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491181/original/file-20221023-37902-g62yh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491181/original/file-20221023-37902-g62yh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491181/original/file-20221023-37902-g62yh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491181/original/file-20221023-37902-g62yh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491181/original/file-20221023-37902-g62yh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491181/original/file-20221023-37902-g62yh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/491181/original/file-20221023-37902-g62yh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The GOP elephant and Democratic donkey are going toe-to-toe on Election Day.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/animal-cartoons-boxing-on-the-ring-royalty-free-illustration/165752107?phrase=gop%20democrats%20fighting&adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>We are uncivil when our political opinions do not take due account of the perspectives, priorities and concerns of our fellow citizens.</p>
<p>To better understand this idea, consider that in a democratic society, <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/democracy-people-power">citizens share political power</a> as political equals. As democratic citizens, we have <a href="https://www.ndi.org/what-we-do/citizen-participation">the responsibility to act</a> in ways that respect the equality of our fellow citizens, even when we disagree with their politics.</p>
<p>In my view, one way to respect their equality is to give due consideration to their values and preferences. </p>
<p>Of course, this does not require that we water down our own political commitments – or always try to meet our opponents halfway. </p>
<p>It calls only for a sincere attempt to consider their perspectives when devising our own.</p>
<p>People are civil when we can explain our political opinions to our political opponents in ways that are responsive to their rival ideas. </p>
<h2>A civility test</h2>
<p>Here is a simple three-part test for civility:</p>
<p>First, take one of your strongest political views, and then try to figure out what your smartest partisan opponent might say about it.</p>
<p>Second, identify a political idea that is key to your opponent and then develop a lucid argument that supports it. </p>
<p>Third, identify a major policy favored by the other side that you could regard as permissible for government – despite your opposition.</p>
<p>If you struggle to perform those tasks, that means one has a feeble grasp on the range of responsible political opinion. </p>
<p>When we cannot even imagine a cogent political perspective that stands in opposition to our own, we can’t engage civilly with our fellow citizens.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193061/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert B. Talisse does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Political debate has always been filled with heated words and deeply held emotions. But the level of civility in political discourse has reached a new low.Robert B. Talisse, W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1853252022-06-17T17:58:53Z2022-06-17T17:58:53ZMike Pence’s actions on Jan. 6 were wholly unremarkable – until they saved the nation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469524/original/file-20220617-25-a88bqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C29%2C4979%2C3289&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Vice President Mike Pence returned to the House chamber to finish the process of counting the electoral votes in the early morning of Jan. 7, 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolRiotInvestigation/1c4d719ec839475a973e770a1b30a274/photo">AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>New revelations from the congressional committee investigating the events on and leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol show the crucial role then-Vice President Mike Pence played in thwarting the insurrection – and reveal the principles behind his actions.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-12/">12th Amendment</a> to the U.S. Constitution reads “the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted.” Under the Constitution, the vice president also serves as <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI-S3-C4-1/ALDE_00001111/">president of the Senate</a>. </p>
<p>At the June 16 hearing, Judge J. Michael Luttig, a <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3525468-who-is-michael-luttig-who-testifies-thursday-before-the-jan-6-panel/">conservative political icon</a>, and Greg Jacob, Pence’s counsel, asserted that the Constitution grants the vice president <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/11/us/politics/pence-jan-6-election-trump.html">no authority to overturn</a> or reject the electoral votes. </p>
<p>Pence himself has said “<a href="https://www.witf.org/2022/06/17/jan-6-committee-leaders-say-trump-broke-the-law-by-trying-to-pressure-pence/">there is almost no idea more un-American</a> than the notion that any one person could choose the American president.” Every single vice president in U.S. history agreed. <a href="https://garamondagency.com/work/an-honest-man-2/">I</a> am a <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674986480">historian of the U.S. presidency</a>. No vice president has ever rejected officially certified electors, refused to count the votes or paused the official ceremony – not even when their own personal interests were at stake. </p>
<p>Indeed, in 2001, Vice President Al Gore <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-06-16/how-to-judge-mike-pence-and-other-takeaways-from-the-jan-6-hearing">proclaimed</a>, “The choice between one’s own disappointment in your personal career and upholding the noble traditions of American democracy is an easy choice.” He then oversaw the process of counting electoral votes that delivered defeat to him in his campaign to win the presidency and victory to his opponent, George W. Bush.</p>
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<figure><figcaption><span class="caption">Vice President Al Gore declares himself the loser, and George W. Bush the winner, of the 2000 U.S. presidential election. (C-SPAN)</span></figcaption></figure>
<h2>Under pressure, and threat</h2>
<p>And yet as the committee’s evidence has shown, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-pressure-pence-key-details-missed-thursdays-jan/story?id=85442808">Trump insisted Pence overturn</a> the election. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/06/politics/donald-trump-capitol-mob/index.html">Trump fueled the rage</a> of the mob marching toward the Capitol and <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/proud-boys-ethan-nordean-egged-on-donald-trump-defense_n_6021dbadc5b6173dd2f8da88">he egged them on</a>, even after he knew violence was possible. When the rioters chanted “hang Mike Pence,” Trump reportedly said Pence “<a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/world/jan-6-hearing-how-did-trump-respond-when-mob-chanted-hang-mike-pence">deserves it</a>.”</p>
<p>Pence barely escaped the mob’s wrath. New testimony shows that the rioters were just <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/proud-boys-jan-6-pence-vp-b2102995.html">40 feet</a> from the vice president. But as rioters called for his execution and erected gallows outside the Capitol building, Pence <a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/pence-refused-to-leave-capitol-during-riot-eyewitness-recounts/3737804/">refused to leave</a> the Capitol complex. He didn’t want anyone to see the vice president <a href="https://thehill.com/news/house/3463198-raskin-responds-to-chilling-report-pence-refused-to-leave-capitol-on-jan-6/">fleeing the Capitol</a>. That symbol would be too hard to forget.</p>
<p>We still don’t have all the evidence, but it appears Pence also <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2022/06/10/pence-not-trump-asked-guard-troops-to-help-defend-capitol-on-jan-6-panel-says/">coordinated city and federal responses</a> to the riot from the secure underground location where he took refuge. And once the mob had been driven out of the Capitol, Pence insisted on <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/01/07/954234902/congress-certifies-biden-victory-after-pro-trump-rioters-storm-the-capitol">completing the ceremony</a> in the early morning hours of Jan. 7.</p>
<h2>A loyal lieutenant</h2>
<p>Until December 2020, Pence had been <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/20/look-vice-president-pences-first-year-office-key-takeaways/1048778001/">unfailingly loyal</a>. He had never publicly disagreed with Trump, regardless of the embarrassment or <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mike-pence-loyal-lieutenant-or-donald-trump-s-scheming-sidekick-jcq5lfpbc">implications for his own future career</a>. </p>
<p>Why did Pence draw such a visible line over the certification of the election? There appear to be two reasons: a clear sense of legality and a deep conviction about his place in history.</p>
<p>The certification of the election appears to have been the first time Trump explicitly asked Pence to break the law. Pence previously defended controversial Trump administration policies like <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/mike-pence-doubles-down-border-wall-donald-trump-will-not-be-deterred-1293499">the border wall</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/28/mike-pence-once-called-trumps-muslim-ban-unconstitutional-he-just-applauded-the-order/">the so-called “Muslim ban</a>,” and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/02/15/vice-president-pences-claim-that-u-s-spy-agencies-found-no-impact-from-russian-meddling/">excused Russian meddling</a> in the 2016 election, but they were just words. Pence could make an argument that appealed to the Republican base, even if what he was talking about didn’t comport with U.S. law or tradition. He didn’t have to take action.</p>
<p>The certification of the electoral votes was different. Trump didn’t demand that Pence make a statement at a public event. <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/january-6-committee-third-hearing-pence-pressure-campaign-rcna32993">Trump demanded</a> that the vice president overturn a free and fair election – the very bedrock of American democracy. Notably, Pence didn’t speak out about the plans afoot in the White House to overturn the election, which the hearings on Jan. 6 have detailed. But actually participating in the effort appears to have been one step too far for Pence.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection examined Pence’s refusal to leave the U.S. Capitol.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>A sense of history</h2>
<p>Additionally, Pence had a keen sense of his place in history. The former vice president’s chief counsel told Congress that Pence said he <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/us-elections-government/ny-jan-6-vp-mike-pence-founding-fathers-heaven-20220616-sbw5v6w2sva4jayoxktospubgq-story.html">looked forward to meeting the framers</a> of the U.S. Constitution in heaven. That is not the statement of someone with short-term vision.</p>
<p>Furthermore, all of Pence’s advisors, from Luttig to former Vice President Dan Quayle, confirmed that history offered resounding guidance. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/january-6-hearings-june-16/h_2aaf0a0091f0b71b4cfe8458136c41e5">The rule of law is the foundation, the profound truth of the United States</a>. The vice president had no legal authority to overturn the election and nothing in the historical record suggested otherwise.</p>
<p>In February 1801, Vice President Thomas Jefferson <a href="https://founders.archives.gov/?q=Author%3A%22Adams%2C%20Abigail%22%20Dates-From%3A1801-01-01&s=1111311111&r=10&sr=">opened the electoral returns</a> from the states and discovered that he and his vice-presidential candidate, Aaron Burr, had tied for first place – which was possible under the Constitution at the time. President John Adams had come in third. While the House of Representatives cast ballot after ballot, attempting to resolve the election, Jefferson and Adams <a href="https://founders.archives.gov/?q=%20Dates-From%3A1801-01-12&s=1111311113&r=43">met</a>. They <a href="https://founders.archives.gov/?q=%20Dates-From%3A1801-01-19&s=1111311113&r=21">pledged</a> to each other that they would not meddle in the election. On the <a href="https://founders.archives.gov/?q=Author%3A%22Adams%2C%20Abigail%22%20Dates-From%3A1801-01-01&s=1111311111&r=10&sr=">36th ballot</a>, Jefferson was elected as the third president of the United States. Adams and Jefferson didn’t just refrain from taking action; they intentionally upheld the sanctity of the electoral process. That is the historical precedent Pence followed.</p>
<p>Since then, no vice president has seriously considered overturning the results of the election. It should be a non-issue. It should be a relatively boring day for the vice president. It should not require courage.</p>
<p>But on January 6, 2021, it required all of Mike Pence’s fortitude. Reflecting on Pence’s actions that day, committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat, said in the beginning of the third hearing, “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/16/1105683634/transcript-jan-6-committee">Mike Pence and I agree on very little</a>,” but we agreed that “there is no idea more un-American that the notion that one person can choose the president.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/16/jan-6-committee-reveals-new-details-about-pences-terrifying-day/">At 3:50 a.m. on Jan. 7</a>, after the congressional session had concluded, the vice president’s chief of staff, Marc Short, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/takeaways-day-3-jan-6-hearings-lawyer-eastman-told-trump-election-plot-rcna34034">texted Pence a Bible verse</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Timothy%204:7-8&version=NIV">2 Timothy 4:7-8</a>, which reads, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”</p>
<p>Under the terms of the U.S. Constitution, Pence should not have had to fight, nor do very much to finish the race. But when confronted with the unimaginable, he kept the faith. He kept his oath.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185325/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lindsay Chervinsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The vice president has said he looks forward to meeting the framers of the Constitution in heaven. That is not the mindset of someone with short-term vision.Lindsay Chervinsky, Senior Fellow, Center for Presidential History, Southern Methodist UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1528692021-01-07T21:22:18Z2021-01-07T21:22:18ZHow does the 25th Amendment work, and can it be used to remove Trump from office after US Capitol attack?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377626/original/file-20210107-19-nm36k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C33%2C4493%2C2957&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">After President Trump incited violence on Jan. 6, some high-ranking officials say he is unfit to lead the United States. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-donald-trumps-supporters-gather-near-the-capitol-news-photo/1230468182?adppopup=true">Probal Rashid/LightRocket via Getty Images)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A day after President Donald Trump incited supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/schumer-calls-pence-use-25th-amendment-remove-trump-office-n1253296">called on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from office</a>, saying “This president should not hold office one day longer.”</p>
<p>The 25th Amendment, <a href="https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/exhibits/amendment25/25thamendment.html#:%7E:text=Congress%20approved%20the%2025th%20Amendment,Nixon%20nominated%20Congressman%20Gerald%20R.">ratified by the states in 1967</a>, declares that upon the removal, resignation or death of the president, the vice president assumes the presidency.</p>
<p>Commonly referred to as the <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-xxv">Disability Clause</a>, this constitutional provision also specifies that if the president is unable to perform the functions of his office, the vice president will serve as acting president. </p>
<p>If the president is unable to determine his own decision-making capacity, it is possible – though this is an untested area of law – that the vice president, independently or in consultation with the Cabinet, would determine if he himself assumes the role of acting president. </p>
<h2>Removal, resignation or death</h2>
<p>The 25th Amendment has been invoked only a few times in history. </p>
<p>In 2002 and 2007, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jul/20/usa.dickcheney">President George W. Bush</a> invoked the Disability Clause prior to scheduled colonoscopy procedures that required anesthesia and sedation. During this limited time, Vice President Dick Cheney became acting president.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="President George W. Bush speaking to the press." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361486/original/file-20201004-24-1tii77y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361486/original/file-20201004-24-1tii77y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361486/original/file-20201004-24-1tii77y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361486/original/file-20201004-24-1tii77y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361486/original/file-20201004-24-1tii77y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361486/original/file-20201004-24-1tii77y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361486/original/file-20201004-24-1tii77y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President George W. Bush, left, announces he will sign over the power of the presidency temporarily to Vice President Dick Cheney while he undergoes a colonoscopy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-george-w-bush-announces-to-the-press-he-will-sign-news-photo/51684475?adppopup=true">Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But there is no precedent for the type of situation currently facing the United States. Trump long refused to concede his loss in the 2020 presidential election and encouraged a mob who share his belief that the vote was “rigged” to attack Washington, D.C. On Jan. 7, Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/DanScavino/status/1347103015493361664">issued a brief statement promising an “orderly transition” on Jan. 20 but pledging to “continue our fight</a>.”</p>
<p>The 25th Amendment contains no precise legal language that expressly outlines what the procedural processes should be if the president cannot determine his own fitness for office. Its lack of specificity about such a situation means that a potential constitutional crisis could result if it is invoked to remove an unfit president who is unwilling to give up power.</p>
<h2>Line of succession</h2>
<p>Should the president be incapacitated in office, there is legislation that clarifies the line of succession. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Presidential_Succession_Act.htm#:%7E:text=On%20July%2018%2C%201947%2C%20President,1886%20Congress%20had%20removed%20them.">1886 Succession Act</a> made members of the president’s Cabinet direct successors if the vice president could not serve. </p>
<p>Upon assuming the presidency in 1945 after President Franklin Roosevelt’s death, Harry Truman requested Congress to amend the 1886 Succession Act to provide greater clarification of succession protocol. Truman wanted that succession to place the speaker of the house second in line after the vice president. After several years of negotiation, <a href="https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Presidential_Succession_Act.htm">both houses of Congress agreed to this revision</a> and passed the <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/browse/prelim@title3&edition=prelim">Presidential Succession Act</a> in 1947.</p>
<p>The legislation specified that the line of succession begins with the vice president and is followed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, the president pro tempore of the Senate, the secretary of the U.S. Department of State, the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the remaining secretaries of Cabinet departments in the order of when they were established as executive branch agencies.</p>
<p>Neither the Succession Act nor the 25th Amendment has ever been invoked for longer than a few hours. There are nearly two weeks left in Trump’s term.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated and condensed version of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/trumps-covid-19-diagnosis-what-lies-ahead-could-include-a-constitutional-crisis-over-succession-147420">article</a> originally published on Oct. 4, 2020.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152869/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Newbold does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Vice President Pence could invoke the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution, also known as the Disability Clause, if he believes Trump is ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.’Stephanie Newbold, Associate Professor, Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University - NewarkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1478312020-10-13T15:38:14Z2020-10-13T15:38:14ZDominance or democracy? Authoritarian white masculinity as Trump and Pence’s political debate strategy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362715/original/file-20201009-17-npc35y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=94%2C74%2C4351%2C2283&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, debated on Oct. 7, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-combination-of-pictures-created-on-october-07-2020-news-photo/1228948059?adppopup=true">Justin Sullivan / POOL / AFP/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After the debate between Sen. Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence, commentators contrasted Pence’s reserved demeanor with the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-debate-fallout-proud-boys/2020/09/30/89dd548e-0334-11eb-897d-3a6201d6643f_story.html">belligerence President Donald Trump exhibited</a> in his debate with former Vice President Joe Biden the previous week. </p>
<p>NPR Congress editor Deirdre Walsh asserted that Pence’s debate style was an “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/10/08/921323806/4-takeaways-from-the-mike-pence-kamala-harris-vice-presidential-debate">almost polar opposite of the president’s</a>.” New York Times conservative columnist Christopher Buskirk called Pence “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/08/opinion/debate-kamala-harris-mike-pence.html">calm, professional, competent and focused</a>,” claiming that he was “in some sense the answer to every criticism leveled at Trump after the last debate.” The BBC’s Anthony Zurcher contended that Pence’s “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54455637">typically calm and methodical style served as a steady counterpoint to Trump’s earlier aggression</a>.”</p>
<p>These seemingly disparate styles, however, are two sides of the same coin – manifestations of a particular version of authoritarian white masculinity that has taken over the GOP since it became the party of Trump. </p>
<p>Not only do these styles perpetuate sexist assumptions about leadership, they also are fundamentally undemocratic because they try to silence dissent, foreclose debate and curtail the participation of anyone with whom they disagree in our democracy.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362717/original/file-20201009-13-ls3517.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Nine photos of President Trump during the first presidential debate." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362717/original/file-20201009-13-ls3517.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362717/original/file-20201009-13-ls3517.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362717/original/file-20201009-13-ls3517.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362717/original/file-20201009-13-ls3517.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362717/original/file-20201009-13-ls3517.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362717/original/file-20201009-13-ls3517.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362717/original/file-20201009-13-ls3517.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trump and Pence’s seemingly disparate debate styles conceal similar approaches and agendas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-combination-of-pictures-created-on-september-29-2020-news-photo/1228795862?adppopup=true">Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An inequitable system</h2>
<p><a href="https://voicemalemagazine.org/ten-must-read-books-white-masculinity/">Authoritarian white masculinity</a> is a version of patriarchal authority that has asserted itself in U.S. politics in conjunction with the rise of Donald Trump. It assumes that heterosexual white men are best suited to leadership and casts political leadership by women and people of color as inauthentic – for example, the “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/us/politics/donald-trump-obama-birther.html">birther movement</a>” – or threatening – for example, “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/10/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-justice-department/index.html">lock her up</a>.” </p>
<p>The Trump presidency is, in part, a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07491409.2017.1302257">backlash to the election of the nation’s first Black president and to Hillary Clinton’s nomination</a> in 2016 as the first woman to top a major-party presidential ticket. This reassertion of white patriarchal authority is presented as necessary for the nation’s stability and progress. It’s one way Trump delivers on his promise to “make America great again.” </p>
<p>Authoritarian white masculinity has made a resurgence because it doesn’t only appeal to men. People of all genders can be socialized into patriarchal systems, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/06/opinion/lisa-murkowski-susan-collins-kavanaugh.html">white women, in particular, sometimes benefit from their proximity to, and participation in, authoritarian white masculinity</a>.</p>
<p>Where progressive political power aims to expand citizenship, voting and participation, conservative authoritarianism aims to curtail it. As a result, progressive women and candidates of color face a complex set of stereotypes and constraints when challenging the white patriarchy on which the U.S. political system is built. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ui-U394AAAAJ&hl=en">political communication scholar</a> who has <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Woman-President-Postfeminist-Presidential-Communication/dp/1623495555">studied gender and the U.S. presidency</a> for 25 years, I have observed how talented and driven women have been held back from reaching the nation’s highest office by a culture that rewards authoritarian masculinity. </p>
<p>But I also study the rhetorical ingenuity of candidates like Harris, whose ability to navigate an inequitable political system makes them formidable.</p>
<h2>Authoritarian white masculinity as debate strategy</h2>
<p>Trump’s approach to the debate on Sept. 29 was to establish himself as someone who leads through dominance. </p>
<p>CNN reported that he “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/presidential-debate-coverage-fact-check-09-29-20/h_9157f17840971e050e3d006f5b60f6f2">dominated the discussion, talked over his rival, [and] steamrolled the moderator — often without any interruption</a>.” Trump characterized Biden as someone who could easily be “dominated” by what he called “socialists” in the Democratic party. </p>
<p>Trump was unconstrained by either expectations of civility or the rules of the debate. The more disruptive, the better. Drawn in by Trump’s provocations, Biden urged Trump to “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-election-debate-insults/this-clown-nothing-smart-about-you-un-presidential-insults-fly-in-first-trump-biden-debate-idUSL1N2GR05C">shut up, man” and called him a “clown</a>.” Debate observers likened the event to a <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/09/30/free-press-panel-reacts-first-presidential-debate/3580517001/">schoolyard brawl or a bar fight</a>.</p>
<p>Although some commentators <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-10-07/pence-harris-debate">cheered Pence’s ostensible civility</a> during the vice presidential debate, Pence persistently ignored the rules to which his campaign had assented, speaking past his time limit, refusing to answer many of moderator Susan Page’s questions, and supplanting the moderator’s authority so that he could pose his own questions to Harris.</p>
<p>Pence’s authoritarian masculinity is the genteel version favored in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/09/us/evangelicals-trump-christianity.html">patriarchal religious and regional communities</a> that compose Trump’s most loyal base: Southern conservatives and white <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-donald-trump-still-appeals-to-so-many-evangelicals-143232">evangelical Christians</a>. During the debate, Pence <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/10/08/vice-presidential-debate-full-transcript-mike-pence-and-kamala-harris/5920773002/">said</a> it was a “privilege to be on the stage” with Harris and repeatedly thanked the moderator while ignoring her authority. </p>
<p>When Page moved to a new topic, Pence said, “Well, thank you, but I would like to go back to the previous topic.” When she informed him his time was up, he kept speaking as though no one had said anything. When he wanted to interrupt Harris, he placidly insisted, “I have to weigh in.”</p>
<h2>Harris: ‘I’m speaking’</h2>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tXFqTGBty1w?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Harris’ response to the vice president’s interruptions were popular with women who have experienced similar rudeness.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Harris refused to be steamrolled. Her gender insulated her from being drawn into a <a href="https://19thnews.org/2020/09/trump-biden-first-presidential-debate-toxic-masculinit/">competitive masculinity display</a>, as Biden was in his debate with Trump. But that doesn’t mean her task was easy. </p>
<p>As noted by Politico, Harris had to “<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/10/07/how-harris-identity-as-a-black-woman-could-hurtand-helpher-on-the-debate-stage-427307">navigate stereotypes that pigeonhole Black women as angry and aggressive, and less qualified that white men</a>.” </p>
<p>Harris’ strategy was to meet Pence’s authoritarian masculinity with an authoritative assertion of her own: “I’m speaking.” </p>
<p>Without appealing to the moderator to intervene on her behalf, she did what men routinely do: she took up space. She claimed time. She articulated her qualifications. But she was careful to do it all with a smile. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/08/nation/mr-vice-president-im-speaking-women-praise-kamala-harriss-response-mike-pences-debate-interruptions/">Twitter lit up as women saw Harris</a> weaving around familiar roadblocks that they routinely encounter in their own lives.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1314016944593555461"}"></div></p>
<h2>Dominance or democracy?</h2>
<p>The “dominance” strategy did not work well for <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-biden-debate-poll/">Trump</a> or <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/harris-pence-vp-debate-poll/">Pence</a>, other than garnering the expected partisan praise. But neither is likely to abandon it. More than a campaign tactic, authoritarian masculinity appears to be baked into their worldviews. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/">Trump’s electoral prospects dwindle</a>, his belief in his inherent entitlement to authority appears to be fostering a host of anti-democratic practices: <a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-election-2020-donald-trump-local-elections-lawsuits-4298a514550323d39931f3e5fff2ccae">contesting election procedures to reduce voter participation</a>; <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/mike-pence-kamala-harris-vp-debate-trump-defeat-2020-election-b878896.html">declining to commit to accepting the results of the election if he loses</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/cutting-the-debate-mic-wont-stop-trump-from-short-circuiting-the-democratic-process-147245">sabotaging</a> or <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2nd-debate-trump-biden-virtual/story?id=73496668">boycotting</a> debates. </p>
<p>When Trump told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News that he <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/second-trump-biden-debate-will-be-virtual-organizers-say">planned to stage a rally instead of debating Biden in a COVID-19-safe virtual format</a>, it was revealing. Debates are <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/%7Edguber/POLS125/articles/greenberg.pdf">rituals of democracy</a>, dating back to the <a href="https://www.democraticaudit.com/2016/11/01/concentrating-minds-how-the-greeks-designed-spaces-for-public-debate/">classical Greek agora</a>, flourishing in the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/the-continental-congress">Continental Congress</a> that birthed the United States, and held up as the ideal form of campaign communication after those made famous by <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/lincoln-douglas-debates">Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas</a>. </p>
<p>Rallies, on the other hand, are authoritarian <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/3/14/11224216/authoritarianism-trump-rallies-violence">political theater</a> popularized by <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/08/03/joseph-mccarthy-and-the-force-of-political-falsehoods">demagogues</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/3/21/11275978/trump-dictator-tactics">dictators</a>.</p>
<p>And the attraction of authoritarian masculinity seems to be shared by other Republican politicians. On the night of the vice presidential debate, Sen. Mike Lee posted a <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/08/nation/republican-senator-mike-lee-says-democracy-isnt-objective-baffling-tweet/">tweet</a> that implied that something other than democratic governance might be required in order for “the human condition to flourish.” </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1314089207875371008"}"></div></p>
<p>Presidential campaign cycles present voters with the opportunity to think about the expectations they have of political leaders, who those standards benefit and constrain, and how they promote or impede democratic engagement. As such, campaign communication and presidential debates are about much more than political strategy. They build – or break – American democracy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147831/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karrin Vasby Anderson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The seemingly different debate styles of President Trump and Vice President Pence are examples of the same thing, what a political communication scholar calls ‘authoritarian white masculinity.’Karrin Vasby Anderson, Professor of Communication Studies, Colorado State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1185012019-09-05T11:27:01Z2019-09-05T11:27:01ZHow many Americans believe in climate change? Probably more than you think, research in Indiana suggests<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289294/original/file-20190823-170931-1xqzxjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Concern about climate change is broader than many Hoosiers think. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/welcome-sign-indiana-state-line-20250787?src=3nqmMMNCOUW-KBcNK1aiWw-1-0">Katherine Welles/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Indiana certainly doesn’t look like a state that’s ready to confront climate change. Its former governor, Vice President Mike Pence, has questioned <a href="https://www.factcheck.org/2016/11/pences-stance-on-climate-change/">whether human actions affect the climate</a>. In 2016 the majority of Indiana residents <a href="https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?f=0&fips=18&year=2016">voted for Donald Trump</a>, who <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/12/us/trump-climate-change-tweet-patrick-moore/index.html">rejects mainstream climate science</a>. And the state <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/125066/State-States.aspx">ranks first</a> in the proportion of its population that identifies as conservative – a position that generally means <a href="https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/conservatives-and-climate-change">resisting calls</a> to address climate change.</p>
<p>Given these realities, it would be easy to assume that all Hoosiers largely doubt climate change and humans’ contribution to it. The truth is surprising. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LktEWJgAAAAJ&hl=en">My research</a> focuses on the human dimensions of climate change, including public opinion. In a recent statewide survey, I found that the majority of Indiana residents supported taking action on climate change. However, most Hoosiers underestimate just how widespread this view is in their state.</p>
<h2>Evolving perspectives</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289292/original/file-20190823-170951-apjssf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289292/original/file-20190823-170951-apjssf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289292/original/file-20190823-170951-apjssf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289292/original/file-20190823-170951-apjssf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289292/original/file-20190823-170951-apjssf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289292/original/file-20190823-170951-apjssf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289292/original/file-20190823-170951-apjssf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vice President Mike Pence opposed federal action to address climate change as governor of Indiana.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Pence-Governor/a95e1399582349068a4bd0af5a75ba24/2/0">Michael Conroy/AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To explore climate change views, my colleagues and I commissioned an online survey of 1,002 Indiana residents statewide in April 2019. The most reported political affiliation was Republican (28%), though there was a wide diversity of affiliations across the sample. A slight majority were men (52%) and the largest age category was 25-34 (20%). </p>
<p>I found that, overall, Hoosiers believed that climate change was real and was happening. Around 80% of respondents reported believing that climate change was occurring “somewhat” or “to a great extent.” </p>
<p>Similarly, a majority felt that climate change will harm Indiana’s economy “somewhat” or to a “great extent” (77%) and that climate change was “already” causing harm in the United States or would by 2030 (72%). Over 65% “somewhat” or “strongly agreed” that climate change effects are greater now than five years ago, and 75% supported initiatives to address these impacts in Indiana. </p>
<p>In the United States, the public’s view of climate change often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2016.08.003">divides along party lines</a>, and respondents in my survey were no exception. Those identifying with more conservative parties reported lower levels of belief in and support for action on climate change across the board. </p>
<p>Still, a majority of Republicans – 66% – believed climate change is real, compared to 91% of Democrats, and supported initiatives to address it. A slight majority of Republicans reported that their acceptance of the reality of climate change had strengthened over the last five years. The fact that these attitudes were held by a majority of respondents of all political affiliations was our most surprising finding.</p>
<p><iframe id="ZSCkb" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ZSCkb/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Underestimating climate change consensus</h2>
<p>If citizens keep their support for acting on climate change to themselves, society struggles to build consensus. But relatives and friends <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916519853302">can influence individuals’ attitudes</a> on climate. </p>
<p>Research shows that people’s willingness to change their beliefs or attitudes depends to a great extent on what they already <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1743">perceive as normal</a>. Therefore, I next examined whether Hoosiers correctly perceived the existence of widespread support for climate change in their state. My survey asked, “What percentage of other Indiana residents do you think believe climate change is happening (whether caused by human activity or not)?”</p>
<p>On average, respondents underestimated by about 24% how many Hoosiers accept climate change. Doubters thought that most others shared their skepticism, estimating that only around 43% in Indiana held the opposite opinion. </p>
<p>Surveyed Hoosiers who believed climate change is happening perceived that a higher percentage of Hoosiers felt like them. However, they too underestimated the percentage who accepted the reality of climate change’s occurrence, by around 20 points on average. </p>
<p><iframe id="EtbYH" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/EtbYH/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Such misperceptions <a href="http://dx.doi.org/0.31219/osf.io/vg74q">hinder action</a> on climate change. Previous research has shown skeptics can fall prey to a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1031(77)90049-X">false consensus effect</a>” – the tendency to assume one’s own opinion is held by a majority of others. For example, climate skeptics who falsely assume that most others share their opinion are less likely to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1743">change their minds</a>. But if they recognize that a consensus exists on the issue and is different from their own initial belief, that could encourage more conservatives to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/vg74q">believe in climate change</a>. </p>
<p>In the same way, believers who underestimate just how many actually agree with them are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.05.002">more likely to self-silence</a> for fear of being stigmatized. They may avoid calling their political representatives to urge support of climate change policies. Researchers have identified such “<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.64.2.243">pluralistic ignorance</a>” in studies of college students and social norms around alcohol use.</p>
<p><iframe id="RREkG" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/RREkG/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Capitalizing on consensus, fighting misperceptions</h2>
<p>Even in a state as conservative as Indiana, belief that climate change is occurring and support for action to curb it are now mainstream.</p>
<p>Our survey did not ask more controversial questions, such as whether humans had a role in causing climate change or how to reduce emissions. While I expect that many in the state <a href="https://theconversation.com/many-midwesterners-will-likely-never-believe-in-climate-change-heres-how-to-encourage-them-to-act-anyway-105199">remain divided on these issues</a>, I still find my results encouraging. </p>
<p>Perhaps one sign of quietly changing attitudes in Indiana is South Bend Mayor and presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s <a href="https://grist.org/article/where-is-pete-buttigiegs-climate-plan/">rise in national polls</a>, due in part to his climate change agenda, which Buttigieg has linked to broader action to <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/caucus/2019/08/13/pete-buttigieg-my-plan-re-imagines-opportunity-rural-america-iowa-caucus/1997170001/">revive rural America</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289960/original/file-20190828-184248-ndofas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289960/original/file-20190828-184248-ndofas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289960/original/file-20190828-184248-ndofas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289960/original/file-20190828-184248-ndofas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289960/original/file-20190828-184248-ndofas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289960/original/file-20190828-184248-ndofas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289960/original/file-20190828-184248-ndofas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has made climate change part of his agenda in campaigning for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Election-2020-Pete-Buttigieg/e67cdf13af17434bbf81985a8c4e0d77/5/0">Mary Schwalm/AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Addressing climate change will require <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/07/climate/ipcc-climate-report-2040.html">major societal changes</a>, which in turn will require overcoming barriers that discourage or prevent collective action. Hoosiers’ underestimation of local consensus on climate change is likely one such barrier in Indiana. </p>
<p>Our respondents are not alone in misperceiving how many of their peers hold supportive attitudes. Many people nationwide <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/dtingley/files/mildenbergertingley_bjps.pdf">underestimate consensus on this issue</a>. One way to overcome this tendency may be to focus on <a href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations-data/ycom-us-2018/?est=happening&type=value&geo=county">communicating the commonness</a> or the <a href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/a-growing-majority-of-americans-think-global-warming-is-happening-and-are-worried/">growing belief</a> in climate change. </p>
<p>I also see it as critical for individuals who believe climate change is occurring to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/vg74q">discuss the topic</a> with friends and relatives, especially if these loved ones are doubters. Helping people to recognize just how normal it is to believe in climate change could lead to broader calls for action in Indiana and beyond.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Houser is an assistant research scientist at Indiana University. </span></em></p>A recent survey in Indiana finds broad concern about climate change and support for addressing it in this red state, with one catch: Many Hoosiers don’t realize their neighbors agree with them.Matthew Houser, Assistant Research Scientist and Faculty Fellow, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1141472019-06-11T19:04:32Z2019-06-11T19:04:32ZThe 25th Amendment wouldn’t work to dump Trump<p>Here’s some advice for frustrated impeachment advocates who think there might be other ways to force Donald Trump out of office: <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27#toc-amendment-xxv">The 25th Amendment</a> won’t help you.</p>
<p>But that hasn’t stopped people from trying.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article149620564.html">Andrew McCabe</a>, former deputy director and acting director of the FBI, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/429960-mccabe-said-justice-dept-discussed-25th-amendment-confirms-rosenstein">gave the Constitution’s 25th Amendment a shoutout</a> in February. </p>
<p>In an <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/andrew-mccabe-60-minutes-interview-full-transcript-watch-acting-fbi-director-trump-investigation-james-comey-russia-investigation-2019-02-17/">interview with “60 Minutes</a>,” McCabe claimed that people in the Department of Justice, including Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and McCabe himself, had discussed trying to get a majority of the Cabinet to agree to remove Donald Trump from office. (<a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/09/21/650545077/rosenstein-denies-that-he-discussed-recording-trump-invoking-25th-amendment">Rosenstein denied the story</a>, but it didn’t go away.) </p>
<p>If that majority vote is all the amendment requires, it would provide a much easier process than impeachment to dump a president. </p>
<h2>‘Doomed to failure’</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/investigate-mccabes-25th-amendment-tale-11551045250">Writing in The Wall Street Journal</a>, prominent conservative lawyers David B. Rivkin and Lee A. Casey wrote that, if those DOJ discussions in fact took place and were serious, the participants were part of “a conspiracy by government officials against American democracy.” </p>
<p>That sounds awful, but any such technical conspiracy – if that’s what it was – was doomed to failure. </p>
<p>If the DOJ lawyers thought getting rid of a president – this one or a future holder of the office – was easy, they hadn’t studied the amendment’s language. </p>
<p><a href="https://law.case.edu/Our-School/Faculty-Staff/Meet-Our-Faculty/Faculty-Detail/id/118">I’m a professor of law</a> – a tax professor at that. I’m used to parsing difficult legal language, and I’ve written about constitutional issues as well as ones that arise in bean-counting. The 25th Amendment is a complex law that is, by design, very hard to use. </p>
<h2>Roots in Kennedy assassination</h2>
<p>A little history: The 25th amendment was <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxxv#">ratified in 1967. A primary purpose</a> was to provide a way to fill the vice presidency when that office becomes vacant. </p>
<p>Two events prompted the legislation. After the Kennedy assassination in 1963, <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/how-jfks-assassination-led-to-a-constitutional-amendment">Lyndon Johnson had no vice president</a> until Inauguration Day 1965. <a href="https://forgottenhistoryblog.com/18-american-presidents-didnt-have-a-vice-president-for-all-or-some-of-their-terms/">Harry Truman had no vice president for over three years</a> after he became president. </p>
<p>Since then, the amendment’s system to fill the vice presidency has worked as intended, twice, and without controversy. The first was in 1973, with <a href="https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_Gerald_Ford.htm">Gerald Ford, after Spiro Agnew was forced to resign</a> after pleading no contest to a tax evasion charge. The second was in 1974, when <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/19/rockefeller-sworn-in-as-vice-president-dec-19-1974-297732">Nelson Rockefeller became vice president after Nixon resigned</a> and Ford became president.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxxv">amendment also sets out processes</a> for the vice president to become “acting president” in two situations. </p>
<p>The first, the easy case, is when the president himself sends a written declaration to the speaker of the House and the president of the Senate that “he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”</p>
<p>The president says, in effect, “I can’t handle the job right now, but I’ll be back.” </p>
<p>The vice president steps in temporarily, and the president reassumes presidential duties when he notifies congressional leaders that he’s up to it. </p>
<p>This part of the amendment has <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45394.pdf">been applied, without fanfare, a couple of times</a> when a president was going to be briefly incapacitated because of anesthesia. Some historians believe that having a formal method for a temporary transfer of power would have been helpful <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23379313">when Dwight Eisenhower had serious health problems</a>.</p>
<h2>Fuzzy rules</h2>
<p>But the rules applicable to the other situation in which a vice president can become acting president are much less clear. </p>
<p>Somehow the idea got around – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/us/politics/rod-rosenstein-wear-wire-25th-amendment.html">reflected in the alleged DOJ discussions</a> – that, if some officials think a president is incapacitated, but he disagrees or is so out of it that he can’t voluntarily step aside, a majority of the Cabinet can promote the vice president. </p>
<p>I believe that understanding is wrong.</p>
<p>To begin with, under the 25th Amendment it’s “the <em>Vice President</em> and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or such other body as Congress may by law provide” who must make the declaration of incapacity to congressional officers. </p>
<p>If Vice President Pence sides with the president – as I believe he would unless Trump were clearly incapacitated – it doesn’t matter what Cabinet officials think.</p>
<p>And “principal officers of the executive departments” doesn’t necessarily mean the Cabinet, although it could. <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-constitution-and-the-presidents-cabinet">“Cabinet” isn’t a constitutional term</a>. </p>
<p>It’s up to the president who sits in his Cabinet, or, for that matter, whether the Cabinet sits at all. Not everyone in the Trump Cabinet is a principal officer of an executive department: <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-trump-administration/the-cabinet/">the U.N. ambassador and White House chief of staff, for example</a>. And many people who head federal agencies, and who therefore might be treated as “principal officers of executive departments,” aren’t in the Cabinet – like the secretary of the Navy.</p>
<p>It’s hard to determine whether there’s a majority of principal officers on board if it’s not clear who gets counted for this purpose. Besides, the president could change the numbers by firing principal officers, whoever they might be, if he learns that a revolt is brewing.</p>
<h2>Congress unlikely to act</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27#toc-amendment-xxv">The amendment does permit Congress</a> to provide for an alternative body that can, with the agreement of the vice president, make an initial determination of presidential incapacity. </p>
<p>It would be nice if Congress had done this at some point in the past 50-some years, to provide more certainty about what should happen when a president is incapacitated. But I believe Congress is unlikely to act under the 25th Amendment until political tensions have eased – whenever that might be – and a different president is in office.</p>
<p>In any event, even if there were no computational difficulties, and even if the vice president were to agree that the president is incapacitated, the amendment doesn’t provide for actually removing the president from office. </p>
<p>Instead, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/us/succession-presidential-and-vice-presidential-fast-facts/index.html">the president remains president; the vice president only becomes “acting president.”</a> In such circumstances, the president would have little or no formal power, of course. But it’s unlikely his Twitter account would be shut down.</p>
<h2>The president doesn’t go away</h2>
<p>Furthermore, a deposed president can return to power. </p>
<p>Under the amendment, once the president declares “that no inability exists,” he resumes presidential duties, unless the acting president and a majority of principal officers – that phrase again! – disagree and Congress, by a two-thirds vote of both houses, also disagrees. </p>
<p>Given those stringent requirements, a president is likely to get power back quickly if he wants it, unless his incapacity is beyond dispute (as was <a href="https://ahsl.arizona.edu/about/exhibits/presidents/wilson">the case with Woodrow Wilson, in pre-25th Amendment days</a>).</p>
<p>Those who want President Trump out of office should forget about the 25th Amendment; it won’t work as they hope or believe. </p>
<p>After publication of <a href="https://www.justice.gov/storage/report.pdf">the Mueller report</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/us/politics/robert-mueller-testify-democrats.html">much of the discussion about removing Trump has shifted to the possibility</a> of <a href="https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Impeachment/">impeachment</a>. </p>
<p>But, with Republican control of the Senate, that <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-impeachment-explainer/explainer-what-would-it-take-for-us-congress-to-impeach-trump-idUSKCN1T4195">process is unlikely to lead to a conviction</a>. </p>
<p>If removal of the president is the goal, those who want it will probably need to try the old-fashioned method: the ballot box.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erik M. Jensen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Those who want President Trump out of office should forget about the 25th Amendment; it won’t work as they hope or believe. The amendment is a complex law that – by design – is very hard to use.Erik M. Jensen, Coleman P. Burke Professor Emeritus of Law, Case Western Reserve UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.