All indications are that the nation, unlike four years ago, will have a peaceful transition of power. Donald Trump and his Republican Party scored a solid election victory. His Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, graciously conceded.

This is how it should work in the United States and always has but for one exception: Trump’s behavior in 2020. Defeated, he did not concede or congratulate his opponent, but instead promoted lies of a rigged election and conspired to unlawfully and unconstitutionally remain in power. It is to America’s forever shame that it has rewarded that behavior by returning Trump to the presidency.

It is our expectation that many Americans will come to regret their choice. Yet that choice is understandable.

Middle- and lower-income Americans were battered by the high prices that resulted from an economy roaring back to life after a pandemic. They were unnerved by a spike in immigration, chaos at the southern border and a dysfunctional system that could not handle it. A cooling of inflation and improvements at the border came too late to mitigate that angst.

Many Americans saw a government that did not work for them. They were anxious about foreign conflicts and troubled by American treasure spent on them. They recalled the Trump years as better, at least pre-pandemic.

Trump promised to fix it all and promoted an isolationist agenda to redirect resources domestically, leaving the world to fend for itself.

He promised all manner of tax cuts, including eliminating taxes on Social Security income, on tips, on overtime, as well as extending and expanding the tax cuts of his first term, which most benefit the very rich and corporations. If enacted, such tax policies would explode the already alarming national debt, which stands at $35.5 trillion, a staggering 123% of Gross Domestic Product.

Revenue would come, he said, from imposition of large tariffs on imported goods, forcing corporations to build manufacturing domestically. More likely it would set off trade wars, with other nations imposing tariffs on U.S. exports. Inflation could well reignite.

The president-elect’s isolationist approach may seem attractive, but history tells us the long-term cost could be steep. Without the check of U.S. power, the enemies of democracy are emboldened to expand their influence. If Ukraine falls because the U.S. steps back, where might Vladimir Putin’s Russia seek to expand next in rebuilding the former Soviet empire? Will China take advantage of a passive Trump foreign policy to invade Taiwan?

But these issues are in the realm of policy disagreements. If enacted, history will tell who was right and who was wrong.

More alarming is the incoming president’s disdain for constitutional restraints. In his first term Trump included in his administration many experienced leaders who pushed back on his tendencies to roll over constitutional and legal constraints. He has vowed this time to fill his administration with those loyal only to him and his agenda.

Eight years ago, there were Republican senators willing to challenge some of his appointments, blocking, for example, his move to place on the board of the Federal Reserve people of questionable qualification. Those senators are gone. The Senate and House, and the Republican party, has been remade in Trump’s image. The guardrails are gone.

How aggressively will Trump use the Department of Justice and other levers of power to deal with the “enemy within,” meaning his critics, or to try to control a news media that he has labeled “an enemy of the American people”? How ugly will his promise of mass deportations get? The nation will find out beginning in January, when Trump takes office again.

Republicans will control the Senate and will likely control the House. If that is the case, it will contribute to Trump’s unchecked power. Democrats must serve the role of the loyal minority, challenging policies they see as unfit, sounding alarms when necessary. The free press, protected by the First Amendment, must fulfill its obligation to inform and question. People have the right to assemble and protest in opposition.

Voters will weigh in again, in the congressional elections of 2026, as to how well they think it is working.

Connecticut, meanwhile, must uphold its ideals of protecting civil rights, of treating all people with dignity, of assuring reproductive rights and contributing to the defense of the nation.

We wish to be wrong about our fears that dark days lie ahead. Whatever is to come, there is hope in knowing that courses chosen can be courses corrected. The light of our democratic republic will not be extinguished.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.