Breaking the tyranny of extremists

The nearly unchecked powers of the president are controlled by the ideologues and special interests who dictate Republican nominations. Self-serving agendas take precedence over the selection of candidates with a record of abiding by the rule of law and the Constitution. Without urgent reforms, America will continue to succumb to what the Framers of the Constitution most feared — a populist tyranny.

Two consequential changes have brought us to this crossroads.

The first: Control over nominations has shifted since the 1970s. Party officials committed to winning general elections with experienced candidates gave way to relatively small and ideologically unrepresentative segments of the electorate intent on advancing their narrow agendas. The relatively low turnout for direct primaries enabled evangelicals, members of the Christian right as well as virulent opponents of immigration, abortion, taxes, and government regulation to control the delegates to national conventions who select presidential candidates.

These changes overturned the Constitution’s design to “filter” the voice of the people and insulate elected officials, especially presidents. The Electoral College, Alexander Hamilton explained in 1788, was designed to produce “a constant probability of seeing the station filled by characters preeminent for ability and virtue” and preventing the selection of presidents inclined toward “cabal, intrigue, and corruption.”

President Trump is the nightmare. He won the 2016 nomination by scraping together less than 40 percent in early primary contests among a crowded field of opponents. As is typical of Republican primaries, three out of four voters identified as very or somewhat........

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