President Donald Trump issued an executive order creating a specialized D.C. National Guard unit to fight crime in the capital and called for similar units in every state, as well as a nationwide quick reaction force. The move follows his declaration of a “crime emergency” in Washington, D.C., where troops have been deployed in public spaces, sometimes armed, though not directly involved in arrests.

The order raises questions about the role of the military in domestic policing, with critics warning of intimidation and overreach, while the White House defends the deployment as necessary to restore public safety.

Matt Cleary, associate professor of political science, says the U.S. has stricter rules against deploying troops domestically than most other countries. The mere presence of troops on American streets, however, including in the most recent instance in Washington, is not necessarily evidence of democratic “backsliding” in the U.S., he says.

“It is something that is done in other democracies when it really, really has to be done. It’s never ideal, and it should only be done in the U.S. or in any other democracy when it’s a true emergency, when there’s no other solution, and it should always be temporary,” Cleary says.

Read more in the HuffPost article, “Trump Tries To Normalize Having National Guard Troops In American Cities.”