Well, it has only been 3 weeks, and frankly, it is frightening what has been accomplished so far. And just wait until all of his nominees are confirmed, which they will be. State legislatures are coming back into session, and we will see massive, additional moves on voter suppression and related laws. DOGE has now been given the go-ahead to hire and fire at will in every executive branch department and related agencies. The goal is the destruction of the government as we know it. I hate being alarmist but my husband and I have pretty much predicted what has happened since Trump was first elected (we lived and worked in NYC from the 1970s to the late 2010s), and I don't believe we were particularly prescient. We have always read a lot across the political spectrum on policy, domestic and international affairs, you name it. Neither of us is hopeful that the country as we have known it over decades will bear any resemblance to what we have lived through pre-Trump. I respect Levitsky and have read his work. But I believe we are going beyond "competitive authoritarianism" quickly. Musk's work should scare the hell out of everyone frankly, and to see Congress act like it is good because it will increase the efficiency of the government (are you kidding me? No one has even bothered to define fraud, waste and abuse much like give concrete examples because that is not what this is about) is bizarre. And to pretend that there is an "advice and consent" process for cabinet and other nominees is a farce; it's more like Stalin show trials. Here we are...
There's a growing sense among the public that what's happening in Washington is just the usual Dem vs Rep nonsense, that Musk is doing the Lord's work in eliminating waste & fraud, and that court's attacking legitimate presidential authority. Once that sense grows widespread enough, Trump will defy the courts &, when Congress can't pass a budget/CR or raise the debt ceiling, he'll simply go ahead and spend as much money as he wants on whatever he wants. Behind Trump & beyond his presidency are the Thiel/Vance/Musk/Vanek rejection & attack on democracy and its inefficiencies. There's no countervailing force. The American experiment is ending.
It seems to me that the scholars you cited in your post focus on democracy being eroded from the top down. Isn't the real danger from the bottom up, There is a bloc of voters, maybe as high as 40 percent, who firmly support authoritarian or even dictatorial government if it's their "side,"
white male supremacy. As long as that bloc remains that large it is going to win some national elections. In as many as 20 states, it is the wholly dominant view held by a majority of voters. That's a problem I don't see being solved.
A friend of mine is a scholar of "American Exceptionalism." She pointed out that this ideology would prevent Americans from recognizing the danger until it was too late. She was right.
* Thinks sadly about the happy things that persist in humble correspondent's life such as the Nets winning 20 games and possibly having a legitimate shot at the play-in tournament!! They showed everyone!! *
The intellectual components of MAGA World didn't make any bones about how they felt the entire bureaucratic infrastructure of democracy was a contemptuous elite and had to be destroyed in order to save "the republic". Only this destruction was entrusted to Donald Trump who has no sense of American values whatever. I worry that there isn't enough democratic infrastructure left in American society. The resistance became exhausted by their hatred of Trump and the Republicans and may need to build institutions in which to practice democracy and share good information independent of the federal government. As Joshua Leifer has seen events thousands of miles away may break the bonds of trust and common purpose within such groups.
My sense is that only a small elite care all that much about democratic principles, whereas the vast majority of the public are much more concerned about outcomes. The public will turn on Trump if things go badly — an economic slowdown collapse, financial crisis, spate of plane crashes and other regulatory failures, etc. Unfortunately for the Democrats, I don't think there's much they can do besides waiting for that to happen. They can throw sand in the gears and try and stymie Trump's administrative putsch, but I wouldn't base their political strategy on democratic restoration. It didn't work with Biden.
Ultimately authoritarianism, including competitive authoritarianism, distorts market mechanisms. The result is slower growth, slower scientific progress, and immiseration of the "outs." Or to put it another way: you can't separate the Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau from the Smith, Ricardo, and Jevons, or the Galileo, Descartes, and Darwin.
Let's at least be happy we live where dissent is celebrated. There are a whole lot of places where your opinion can get you locked up, including some of those "liberal" democracies in Europe.
Fortunately Trump is incompetent, and most of his helpers are also. Elon is stretched beyond his abilities at present. This can all blow up in their faces, if bad things happen, and marginal Republicans get blowback from their districts as inflation runs, and interest rates rise.
Well, it has only been 3 weeks, and frankly, it is frightening what has been accomplished so far. And just wait until all of his nominees are confirmed, which they will be. State legislatures are coming back into session, and we will see massive, additional moves on voter suppression and related laws. DOGE has now been given the go-ahead to hire and fire at will in every executive branch department and related agencies. The goal is the destruction of the government as we know it. I hate being alarmist but my husband and I have pretty much predicted what has happened since Trump was first elected (we lived and worked in NYC from the 1970s to the late 2010s), and I don't believe we were particularly prescient. We have always read a lot across the political spectrum on policy, domestic and international affairs, you name it. Neither of us is hopeful that the country as we have known it over decades will bear any resemblance to what we have lived through pre-Trump. I respect Levitsky and have read his work. But I believe we are going beyond "competitive authoritarianism" quickly. Musk's work should scare the hell out of everyone frankly, and to see Congress act like it is good because it will increase the efficiency of the government (are you kidding me? No one has even bothered to define fraud, waste and abuse much like give concrete examples because that is not what this is about) is bizarre. And to pretend that there is an "advice and consent" process for cabinet and other nominees is a farce; it's more like Stalin show trials. Here we are...
Totally agree. I’m worried that if there are massive protests he will turn the military on us.
There's a growing sense among the public that what's happening in Washington is just the usual Dem vs Rep nonsense, that Musk is doing the Lord's work in eliminating waste & fraud, and that court's attacking legitimate presidential authority. Once that sense grows widespread enough, Trump will defy the courts &, when Congress can't pass a budget/CR or raise the debt ceiling, he'll simply go ahead and spend as much money as he wants on whatever he wants. Behind Trump & beyond his presidency are the Thiel/Vance/Musk/Vanek rejection & attack on democracy and its inefficiencies. There's no countervailing force. The American experiment is ending.
And even if we do throw the technofeudalists out via an election that removes Republicans, will they go?
Why should they? Who's gonna make em?
It seems to me that the scholars you cited in your post focus on democracy being eroded from the top down. Isn't the real danger from the bottom up, There is a bloc of voters, maybe as high as 40 percent, who firmly support authoritarian or even dictatorial government if it's their "side,"
white male supremacy. As long as that bloc remains that large it is going to win some national elections. In as many as 20 states, it is the wholly dominant view held by a majority of voters. That's a problem I don't see being solved.
Good point, Michael.
A friend of mine is a scholar of "American Exceptionalism." She pointed out that this ideology would prevent Americans from recognizing the danger until it was too late. She was right.
😥
* Thinks sadly about the happy things that persist in humble correspondent's life such as the Nets winning 20 games and possibly having a legitimate shot at the play-in tournament!! They showed everyone!! *
The intellectual components of MAGA World didn't make any bones about how they felt the entire bureaucratic infrastructure of democracy was a contemptuous elite and had to be destroyed in order to save "the republic". Only this destruction was entrusted to Donald Trump who has no sense of American values whatever. I worry that there isn't enough democratic infrastructure left in American society. The resistance became exhausted by their hatred of Trump and the Republicans and may need to build institutions in which to practice democracy and share good information independent of the federal government. As Joshua Leifer has seen events thousands of miles away may break the bonds of trust and common purpose within such groups.
My sense is that only a small elite care all that much about democratic principles, whereas the vast majority of the public are much more concerned about outcomes. The public will turn on Trump if things go badly — an economic slowdown collapse, financial crisis, spate of plane crashes and other regulatory failures, etc. Unfortunately for the Democrats, I don't think there's much they can do besides waiting for that to happen. They can throw sand in the gears and try and stymie Trump's administrative putsch, but I wouldn't base their political strategy on democratic restoration. It didn't work with Biden.
Ultimately authoritarianism, including competitive authoritarianism, distorts market mechanisms. The result is slower growth, slower scientific progress, and immiseration of the "outs." Or to put it another way: you can't separate the Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau from the Smith, Ricardo, and Jevons, or the Galileo, Descartes, and Darwin.
Meanwhile there are reports the Democratic party leaders are upset people are calling them to complain. https://www.axios.com/2025/02/12/democrats-jeffries-move-on-indivisible-trump
The hell???
Let's at least be happy we live where dissent is celebrated. There are a whole lot of places where your opinion can get you locked up, including some of those "liberal" democracies in Europe.
Fortunately Trump is incompetent, and most of his helpers are also. Elon is stretched beyond his abilities at present. This can all blow up in their faces, if bad things happen, and marginal Republicans get blowback from their districts as inflation runs, and interest rates rise.
“some day and that day may never come, i ll ask a service of you”
If he can ignore court orders we can ignore him.
Co author of HOW DEMOCRACIES DIE is Daniel Ziblatt, not Lucian Way.
GAH. Fixing!
But Levitsky and Way did co-author “Competitive Authoritarianism”