Don Moynihan writes:

There is so much happening that occasionally pausing to take stock is necessary. So where are we? In deep trouble. America may not be fully authoritarian, but by no means can we consider it to be a functioning democracy.

There will be no announcement, no headline saying “America Not A Democracy.” But if you are willing to look clear-eyed at the cumulative evidence, the inescapable conclusion is that our deeply held beliefs about American democracy no longer match our present reality.

Today, America is a competitive authoritarian system, with a rapidly increasing emphasis on the authoritarian part. The concept of competitive authoritarianism is useful because it suggests that there is not a binary option between democracy and authoritarianism, like a light switch. Instead, democracy can be powerfully degraded even as elections still exist.

If you are an authoritarian, or a wannabe authoritarian, you are inherently driven to follow a specific checklist that allows you to a) consolidate power and b) neutralize sources of dissent.

Here is the authoritarian checklist: [Continue reading…]