Nationhood Lab’s director spoke with The Takeout host Major Garret about the very real dangers the country could shatter from the pressures of resisting the ethnonationalist ambitions of the Trump administration
Nationhood Lab director Colin Woodard was the guest on CBS News’s The Takeout August 27 to discuss how the centuries-old regional divides in the U.S. facilitated the decline of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism.
Asked about the dangers of states clashing with the federal government, leading to a shattering of the country, he said the possibility was real and extremely dangerous. “I’ve seen this show in other countries and many of those of us who had were very worried [from 2016], even as everyone poo-pooed those concerns: ‘we have institutions and norms and you can’t do that thing because the constitution says you can’t,’” Woodard, a veteran foreign correspondent, said.
“The constitution doesn’t enforce itself and many other actors and institutions can become corrupted and not defend the rule of law. And that’s an experience many of countries have had, and Americans are unfortunately learning a bit more about the tragedy of history.”
A seven-minute segment with host Major Garrett was aired Aug. 27, promoting the full long-form interview, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Audacity, and other platforms. .
Woodard was also the guest this morning on Ocean State Public Media — Rhode Island’s statewide public radio network — talking about how cultural effects persist over time. He recently wrote a widely read OpEd discussing Trump’s ethnonational rhetoric — and Nationhood Lab’s recent polling on its lack of popularity — in the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Nationhood Lab, a project at Salve Regina University’s Pell Center, examines regional issues in American life and has developed a revised civic national story for the 21st century United States tied to the ideals in the Declaration.