Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat. This is not a partisan article. This article is about process. I’m very much a process person and if there is one process I care about, perhaps more than any other, it is our democratic system of government that has kept us safe and prosperous for an impressive number of years.

The processes we use–especially how we make decisions–can either undermine trust or build trust.

If people trust a process, they are far more likely to trust its conclusions. They will even go to bat for you when you make a bad decision, if they trust your process.

If people don’t trust a process, they will resist the outcomes of that process. They will even fight decisions that benefit themselves and the people around them if they think the process is unfair.

If you want to create resistance to a decision and erode trust, your best bet is to trash the process and the people involved.

My clients are always in a position to make decisions that affect others, so I help them build trust through smart, logical, and transparent decision-making processes. If you want people to trust you and support your decisions, focus on ensuring that your process is fair and transparent.

Here are the three critical features of a fair process:

• People know where things stand and what decisions are being made so they aren’t blindsided by changes that affect their lives and work.
• People believe the people who are making the decisions are informed, fair-minded, and acting in the best interests of the organization.
• People know how they can participate in a decision, especially whenever they believe their interests aren’t being represented, the process isn’t reasonable, or the decision-makers aren’t acting in the best interests of the organization.

When people trust a process, they are likely to trust the decisions and other outcomes of that process. I help my clients embrace and live by these principles.

Like your company, our government represents another group of people who make decisions affecting others. Our founding fathers clearly understood the importance of establishing a fair and trustworthy system when they formed our democracy, complete with rules for change to keep our system relevant. That system, which has stood the test of time, makes it possible for relatively few people to make important and acceptable decisions affecting many, many others.

To ensure we can know what is changing, why, and who is promoting various objectives and alternatives, our government deliberates publicly, publishes records of decisions and proceedings, and reports back to the nation.

To ensure that our decision-makers represent our concerns, are well-informed and fair-minded, and act in the best interests of the country, the selection of our decision-makers is in our own hands, giving us the responsibility of choosing wisely. If we discover that our elected officials are not sufficiently informed or operating in the best interests of our country, we have the power to vote them out of office. If we don’t believe the government is listening and acting wisely, we have the right to protest, petition, and generally make ourselves heard.

To give all citizens greater voice and increase the likelihood that we stay informed and that lawmakers operate with integrity and stand by their promises, our founding fathers established freedom of speech and of the press. In addition, watchdog organizations and citizens have the right to observe and access government records.

To protect us from corruption, greed, and dishonesty, our founding fathers established a number of constraints such as the separation of power among our three branches of government.

To protect us from the damage that can be done by a President who behaves inappropriately, they gave Congress the ability to remove the President from office.

Our founding fathers clearly understood the requirements of fair process and the importance of establishing the principles and processes that would allow we the people to govern ourselves.

While our system isn’t perfect, nor are we perfect in our ability to select informed, fair-minded individuals dedicated to making decisions in the best interests of the country, the success of our country and continued peaceful transitions of power hinge upon widespread trust in this system. If we lose faith in our elected officials, it is paramount that we not lose faith in the system as a whole. We need to protect our democracy by maintaining these basic tenets and by working for candidates we believe are fair-minded and will do what is best for our country. We need to fight against the forces that are eroding our trust in our system of government.

Now take a look at these tweets and comments by President Trump and tell me what they have in common:

• They treated us very unfairly, and now they want fairness in the Senate.”
• “no Due Process, proper representation or witnesses”
• “Democrats repeatedly claimed impeachment was an urgent matter, but now Nancy Pelosi uses stall tactics to obstruct the Senate.”
• “Why should Crazy Nancy Pelosi, just because she has a slight majority in the House, be allowed to Impeach the President of the United States?”
• “So interesting to see Nancy Pelosi demanding fairness from @senatemajldr McConnell when she presided over the most unfair hearing in the history of the United States Congress!”
• “It’s a hoax, it’s a witch hunt, and it’s just a continuation.”

Every one of these tweets makes a claim of unfair process. Their frequency and ubiquity represent intentional efforts to spread disrespect for the processes used and to paint Trump as a victim of unfair process. When Trump doesn’t like something that is happening, he discredits the process and the people who are a part of that process.

Nonetheless, these tweets are highly effective because fairness matters. People care about fairness, as they should.

The problem is that those processes Trump is tweeting about—the processes that govern Congress, the White House, and the Judiciary—are the processes that have allowed our country to flourish for two and a half centuries. They have helped us thrive, kept us safe, and made it possible to have peaceful transitions of power. They have made it possible for us to choose our leaders, debate our differences, and accept our losses. If we lose faith in our process of government—if we have no respected, established processes for settling our differences—I don’t see how we will continue as a peaceful, successful nation.

When President Trump decries that the impeachment process is a hoax—a process used by both parties in the past, he is attacking our form of government. It is fine to take issue with specific actions, but casting doubt on our democratic processes is an effort to erode trust in our system of government. That crosses a line.

When President Trump says that impeachment is an effort to undo the will of the people in the last election, he is attacking our form of government. It is fine to protest the accusations, but proclaiming that Congress has no right to initiate an impeachment inquiry is an effort to erode trust in our system of government. That crosses a line.

When President Trump charges the mainstream media—reputable publications like the New York Times and the Washington Post—with peddling fake news, he is attacking our form of government. It is fine to take issue with particular statements and bring in the fact-checkers, but undermining the mainstream media with broad generalizations about fake news is an effort to erode trust in our free press. That crosses a line.

If you can’t see the distinction between debates about individual issues and attacks on our government processes, if you can’t see the importance of allowing debate on issues without attacking our government, we are in trouble as a nation.

I have watched in horror over the last several years as some elected officials and media outlets seem to be making every effort to destroy our trust in our democratic system. The concerted effort to discredit the impeachment process, which happens to be a totally standard and legal process followed by law-makers of both parties in the past, is just one example. Discrediting that process is an assault on our democracy. Is there any doubt that Trump’s attacks are intentional efforts to discredit the process and lead some people to trash the conclusions? The problem is that each additional effort to discredit our government systems and processes is another strike against our democracy.

In your company, a loss of trust and fair process causes conflict, delays, personnel struggles, lost opportunities, lost productivity, and poor morale.

In a country, a loss of trust and fair process can lead to hatred, violence, hopelessness, injustice—and, after a point—revolt, anarchy, and civil war.

Regardless of policy positions and party affiliation, we need to distinguish between political arguments and government destruction. We need to stand up for our beliefs, but not at the expense of the oldest successful democracy in the world.

Our democracy must come first. We will always have disagreements, but let’s focus our debate on those disagreements. Let’s work to seek common ground and uncover shared objectives. Let’s not use attacks to destroy our faith in our governmental processes and in each other. I can’t think of a better New Year’s Resolution than a pledge to debate the issues while making every effort to strengthen our democracy by respecting the processes that bind us.

This article first appeared on Forbes, December 31st, 2019