From 2015 until 2023, Poland was under the process of democratic erosion; however, recently they reversed this backsliding as the PiS, Law and Justice Party, had ultimately been removed from power when Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the co-founder of the Civic Coalition Party, was reappointed in 2023. The eight years under the authoritarian rule of PiS in Poland had replaced key components of a democracy, and Poland is continuing to reverse the backsliding today. Meanwhile, in the United States, President Donald Trump has returned to office and has presented similar mechanisms of authoritarian rule similar to PiS in Poland. Is the U.S. undergoing the same democratic backsliding that Poland just began to escape?

During the years under PiS rule, Poland had undergone many changes that gradually eroded democracy from authoritarian practices. Similarly, Trump’s time in office has raised concerns about actions that undermine the principles of democracy. However, what distinguishes authoritarianism? According to “How Democracies Die,” Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky examine four different behavioral signs of authoritarian rulers. When a politician tolerates or encourages violence, restricts their opponents and the media’s civil liberties, dismisses their opponents legitimacy, and rejects democratic “rules of the game.” When even one of these components is visible in a ruler, it is evident that they exert authoritarian practices. So, how do the U.S. and Poland’s rulers fit this theory?

Under PiS rule, the youth, and especially women, in Poland protested when the results of the Constitutional Tribunal hearing regarded abortions as unconstitutional when conceived from fetal congenital defects. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, co-founder of the PiS, former Prime Minister, and Deputy Prime Minister, encouraged his supporters to defend Catholic churches from the protesters who deemed the hearing unjust. This corroboration promotes extremist reactions, destables and polarizes society. Furthermore, in the United States, when President Trump’s opposition, Joe Biden, was appointed into office in 2021, Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. As Trump has been reappointed into office, he openly condoned the violence, reframing the event as “a day of love,” even trying to provide commutations and pardons for the participants of the raid, perverting the harmful effects and unjust practices that were done. These tactics warp supporters’ views to see oppositions of the incumbent and their shared ideals as enemies of the people, ultimately emerging as a flawed democracy.

Through political polarization, attacks on the lower class in society, and shifting the faults onto the opposition, the way is paved for politicians to exercise extreme control over a democracy. President Andrzej Duda, who has been in office since 2015, has manipulated the media, filtering out any public concern for the PiS while encouraging support, as seen in Poland’s largest news outlet, TVP. Duda curtained his state control of media with the idea that he was helping the public not be influenced by foreign countries. Meanwhile, President Trump has signed an executive order, putting a halt to online government censorship, claiming that fact-checks limit free speech, eventually causing the public to consume misinformation. The politicians’ choices on how to control the public’s ability to openly express their opinions create a skewed, one-sided interpretation of the political climate.

In a democracy, the dismissal of an opponent’s legitimacy remains another concern as to whether there is authoritarian rule. The de facto former ruler, Kaczynski, when running against Tusk not only modified the media to influence negative perceptions of the opposition but also publicly claimed that Tusk may be involved in violating the law, making it appear as if he’s illegitimate and not a proper candidate. In the United States, Trump has made numerous claims about the political plans of opponent Kamala Harris, which were unfounded. The spread of misinformation and implementation of fear to the public further shifts these countries away from a democracy. 

Even one out of the four practices eludes that authoritarian rulers have a way of finding holes in the system where they can implement their own policies. However, it’s crucial for these signs of authoritarian rule and democratic erosion to be eliminated before the incumbent replaces the entire democratic system which eventually will make it nearly impossible to remove the authoritarian from power. Recently, Kaczynski has led a rally to raise support for the PiS party and the future presidential election in May. This election may distinguish what this country is to be expecting in the future. Will they completely resist the backsliding, or will there be a lack of justice? As for the United States, the judiciary and the public need to constantly block or delay the executive orders and practices imposed by Trump in order to avoid the loss of democracy.