Regime Politics

I must have dreamed a thousand dreams
Been haunted by a million screams
But I can hear the marching feet
They're moving into the street
--Genesis

Political scientists sometimes distinguish between normal politics and regime politics. Normal politics takes place within an existing political order. The ends are agreed upon but the means are debated and form the basis for political division.

Regime politics questions the nature of the existing political order itself. Who rules and for what purpose? What are rights? Who has them? What principles do we value?

The original vision of the United States was grounded in the natural rights idea of liberty captured by the Declaration of Independence and ratified in the Constitution. An alternative vision has been under development for about 100 years now. It is grounded in the doctrine of progressive politics and socialism and stresses submission to the state.

These two visions share no middle ground. Consequently, regime politics in America has been escalating.

History suggests regime politics rarely concludes peacefully.