Both sides in this presidential election proclaim that it’s a battle for the survival of democracy. In that case, we need to be clear about what American democracy is. It’s not just that the people vote. There are also safeguards against the abuse of power by the government, or by the people themselves.

But, beneath all that, our democracy is built on an understanding of what truth is, and how we go about knowing it.

The founders of our nation were products of the Scientific Revolution that had taken place a couple of centuries earlier. The governmental system they created is grounded on science’s insistence on reasoning based on facts instead of beliefs and assumptions. Truth disappears, and democracy dies, when facts are denied or ignored.

I said in last month’s column that Donald Trump operates under a more ancient mindset, a prescientific one that’s deeply embedded in human psychology. It judges ideas by how well they line up with existing beliefs and feelings instead of facts. Politicians who operate from this worldview can use tactics that are unavailable to other leaders.

The most important is a heavy emphasis on emotional appeals — positive sentiments like tradition and patriotism, but also fears and prejudices — at the expense of reason. These are the leaders who single out groups — elites, immigrants, and others — for the people to fear, resent, and blame for their troubles. They rely on ridicule, personal attacks, and fabrications to make up for the lack of factual support for their accusations.

Keeping fear and resentment at a fevered pitch enables them to present themselves as saviors, and to inspire intense devotion among their followers. Loyalty to them overrides all other obligations, sometimes even those to democracy itself. They may encourage, either subtly or openly, intimidation and even violence against those who disagree.

You may find that Donald Trump fits this description to one degree or another. Keep in mind, in that case, that he’s far from the only one who does. Politicians like this exist everywhere, and have inhabited democracies ever since the beginning. Huey Long was one of the most successful.

His fiery speeches against wealthy and powerful elites, abusive language toward his enemies, and just-folks manner fueled his rise to power as governor of Louisiana from 1929 to 1933. The passionate loyalty he inspired allowed him to create, in the words of the Encyclopedia Brittanica, an “unprecedented executive dictatorship that he perpetrated to ensure control of his home state...

“Surrounding himself with gangster-like bodyguards, he dictated outright to members of the legislature, using intimidation if necessary. When he was about to leave office to serve in the U.S. Senate (1932), he fired the legally-

elected lieutenant governor and replaced him with two designated successors who would obey him from Washington. In order to fend off local challenges to his control in 1934, he effected radical changes in the Louisiana government, abolishing local government and taking personal control of all educational, police, and fire job appointments throughout the state. He achieved absolute control of the state militia, judiciary, and election and tax-assessing apparatus, while denying citizens any legal or electoral redress.”

Huey Long’s career was cut short when he was assassinated in 1935 while campaigning to become president of the United States. There’s no way to know how far he might have gone otherwise. His dictatorial control over his home state illustrates what can happen to a nation influenced by a prescientific worldview that denies the importance of facts.

Politicians like Huey Long and Donald Trump are on the march across the world. Victor Orban in Hungary, Narendra Modi in India, and other would-be dictators are harnessing primal emotions in the pursuit of power. They’re capitalizing on democracy’s greatest weakness, its vulnerability to emotional appeals that overwhelm facts and reason.

Democrats insist that a victory for Donald Trump in this election will mean the end of democracy in America. It’s true that our democratic institutions have been weakening for some time now, but their roots run deep. We can hope for a different future, regardless of who wins.

His reelection would, nevertheless, be a victory for a worldview that’s incompatible with the science-inspired and fact-based democracy that the founders envisioned. In that sense, the Democrats are right. This election is indeed — and more than anything else — about the survival of democracy.

Lowell Harp is a retired school psychologist who served school districts in Ogle County. His column runs monthly in The Ogle County Life. For previous articles, you can follow him on Facebook at http://fb.me/lowellharp.