I’ve been hearing a fair amount about how Trump and his former buddy Bannon want to dismantle the “deep state,” implying it is a bad thing. I’d like to take a closer look at this construct…
This so-called deep state is thousands of employees, working within various agencies of government. These people were appointed or hired to uphold rules and guidelines deemed necessary to protect the constitution, or to protect the people from rogue characters or actions.
The deep state is simply regular people following specific sets of guidelines and protocols, AKA, people doing their jobs. The organizational structures that employ them often came into being by the mandate of the people via previous elections and legislative action.
The individuals who comprise this working base of government, often care about their jobs and employment principles ahead of the will of the temporary president. They treat the tenets of their job as more important than a 4-year stint. And it should be, as we see below. As an aside, Congress has more sway over influencing these organizations than the executive branch. And the leadership within any specific organization has the most of all.
The bureaucracy that comes into being via these organizational employees necessarily slows down change. This is a critical —and positive— feature. Rapid change in government engenders chaos like military coups, martial law, erratic stripping of freedoms, constitutional mutilation, and the rise of authoritarian dictators. Slowing change and checking quick maneuvers has always supported the ongoing health of democracy. The people speak, principle-based institutions and charters arise, quick change agents get vetted before they can act, and the everyday work of the government gets done. Period.
If a small band of players could dismantle or distort large swaths of the government with no checks or delay, we would all be in grave danger of losing our democratic powers. Large institutions are meant to move more slowly, especially when a minority-approval executive branch wants to remake our nation in a new image. Our country is not a business. It is in service to us.
So, thank you #deepstate. Thank you.