Transfers of power, a hallmark of our constitutional system, often come with shocks to the system. Trump’s refusal to concede may seem unprecedented, but it’s not the first time this has happened.
The Nov. 3, 2020, election is seven weeks behind us. After more than 50 legal challenges to the fairness and legality of the election have been exhausted, and now that the Electoral College has performed its constitutional duty in certifying the election, it is a matter of real constitutional significance that the current President of the United States continues to refuse to concede defeat or cooperate fully with the transition. It is, in fact, historically unprecedented in American history.
It is not, however, the first time that the peaceful transfer of power has faced serious challenges for the incoming President or for the nation. The strength of the American system of four-year presidential terms is also at times its weakness. There is inevitably a period of uncertainty — even interregnum or governmental suspension — between the quadrennial November election and the installation of the next administration the following year. At one time that period lasted from early November until March 4 of the following year. Beginning with The New Deal, the interim was reduced to seven weeks, until Jan. 20, to make it easier for the incoming President to take control and address pressing national problems.
Under a parliamentary system, by contrast, the ruling party and the Prime Minister can remain in power all the way through a crisis period, and the permanent bureaucracy in a British Commonwealth country of dedicated civil servants who provide nonpartisan continuity irrespective of party politics, provides for a stability that is more dependable than our system in which every change of administration involves a dramatic sweep of office holders and their replacement by some 4,000 presidentially-appointed individuals who suddenly find themselves directing essential services of the United States government.
I can’t believe that as Americans we our going to roll over and let this happen.