Are we really doing this?

“America will continue our leadership in defense of human dignity, in defense of rules and norms, and in defense of freedom and liberty. There is too much at stake to do anything less.” Vice President Kamala Harris spoke those words in 2023 at the Munich Security Conference. In this particular case, she was speaking about the need to continue to stand by Ukraine amidst the ongoing war between them and Russia. However, her sentiment reads like a pipe dream in 2026 as the second Trump administration has stalled our leadership globally. 

What are we doing?

The United States has abandoned allies. Pulling out of longstanding commitments by gutting programs like USAID has diluted rules and norms. The United States has also turned a blind eye as freedoms and liberties are violated on the global stage and even through actions the administration itself has taken. The whiplash both the American people and the rest of the world is feeling right now isn’t just due Donald Trump being reckless, it’s countless people feeling the effects and growing dangers of democratic erosion here at home and how that bleeds into our role as an example of what’s possible to the rest of the world. 

If power talks like it’s concentrated, and if there’s few checks and balances…it’s probably a case of democratic erosion!

In 2001, the United States started down a dangerous path. Congress’ response to the attacks on 9/11 was to pass The PATRIOT ACT. This law has weakened the amount of oversight the judicial system can have, it expanded allowance of mass surveillance, and opened the flood gates on searches and seizures that previously would have been a no-go. It also has given the Executive Branch more power, not just ordinary power, but unchecked power. This law also expanded a long tradition of the executive branch testing its limits and powers specifically in times of global tension or possible times of war. An act like this is the perfect foundation for stealth authoritarianism to flourish. A time of deep uncertainty for a nation, and the concentration of power away from other branches and to the Executive branch. At the time of its passage people were feeling a deep commitment to the nation and weren’t questioning the laws being passed or signed nearly as much due to every action being explained with the need to make our national security stronger. Yet, in turn it created a culture that has allowed that security to now hang on by a mere thread. It wasn’t until just recently when Trump bombed Iran, attacked Venezuela,  and carried out other controversial operations that there was a spike in members of Congress having introduced War Powers Resolutions.  Because the President skirting around the other branches to do what they think is needed became hyper normalized after 9/11. 

Don’t you love when authoritarianism is stealthy?

When the government becomes weaker than before in a Wizard of Oz style of hiding behind a face of faux democracy, that’s stealth authoritarianism. Ozan Varol also points out that “In addition, stealth authoritarianism can ultimately make authoritarian governance more durable by concealing anti-democratic practices under the mask of law” (Varol 2015). While millions of people showed up to protests to re-affirm that there are no kings in America, millions of people also voted to elect someone who’s trying to build on the stealth authoritarian foundation poured by the Bush administration and even arguably before that. I joined the millions out in the streets on March 28th, and the sentiment was clear that so many of us feel that what this current administration is doing is far from stealthy, it’s blatant. However, are we in a bubble that refuses to acknowledge that it still seems stealth or as though everything is fine to millions of others? I think so. 

Feeling under the weather…

The erosion of democratic systems and norms can be indicated through the symptoms and precursors that demonstrate it. Despite some of them occurring through the United States history this nation has been showing symptom after symptom recently. One notable symptom linked to concentration of power is the way in which Donald Trump acts. For example his recent rhetoric surrounding possibly leaving NATO is the other countries in the membership don’t do what he wants isn’t only an indicator of the power he is trying to wield over the long standing norms of the United States, it also shows his willingness to break from alliances that help the US and world in order to appeal to his own personal ego and goals. This kind of outburst also leaves a sick feeling in our allies’ stomachs as the future of diplomacy relies on who the President chooses to like or not like that day. 

What message are we sending?

The amount of confidence that Americans and the world has in the United States is becoming more and more shaky by the day. The US has been seen as the global superpower that people and countries from all over the world look to for ideas, answers, and a direction. This moment is different though. Because as the Administration continues a pattern of unexpected attacks and wavering commitment to allyship, nobody knows exactly how to feel. However the feeling of hope is certainly on the rise. Last year a Pew Research Poll found that when surveying Americans, “While 91% say it is important for the U.S. to be respected around the world, a much smaller share (56%) say it is respected.” When people feel less and less involved in the decision making process or feel that it is increasingly not being done well, they start to lose faith in systems and in what their own nation’s image is on the global stage. When the United States isn’t believed in its own people, how can the rest of the world be expected to do anything different. At the same time the question must be asked: if the United States has built up so much power over time, what’s stopping other nations to go down similar routes of eroding democratic norms by simply following the example set by the United States? If millions can show up in their communities to fight for democracy, yet authoritarianism is able to continue to grow, why shouldn’t one be expected to see the same equation across the globe?