” There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide” – James Adams. If the average empire fails at 250 years and America is 248 years old, could we say that the death of democracy was something foreseeable and the uprise in authoritarian form of government was bound to happen anyways? As political turmoil in America rises, we the people of the United States sit back and watch the dismantling of the American political system and the fight for political dominance within a two-party system. The question plagues a lot of us; what is happening to our government and how did we get here? Here as in the death of democracy.  When we think of death, you think instant, but in the case of democracies, they die through the weakening of democratic norms. In America there are a ton of warning signs, the rise in polarization, elimination of judicial review, and stealth authoritarianism.  

Gridlocking: Back against the wall  

In the last decade political it seems like this country has gone backwards rather than forward, that it because America is in what is known as a political gridlock, or where two opposing political parties can’t come to a conclusion regarding an issue due to personal differences. This is all due to political polarization, within the last three elections we have seen a drastic rise in polarization within the U.S., with political attitudes shifting either extreme far right or left, we are seeing the worst political division since the 1970’s . With controversial questions regarding immigration, history, and basic human rights Americans are divided more than ever and democracy is suffering. In “Polarization and the Global Crisis of Democracy: Common Patterns, Dynamics, and Pernicious Consequences for Democratic Polities” by Jennifer McCoy, Tahmina Rahman, and Murat Somer, they refer to the outcome as a legislative gridlock due to having strong opinions on specific things and being forced to identify with specific parties because there’s no room for middle ground in politics. The problem with this is that it places a metaphorical cage around those that might be moderate or in the middle politically and causes voters to vote for parties that share very few views or even worse political extremist. Prime examples of this would be the January 6th attack where political extremist attacked the capitol due to grievances with our government and instead of holding them accountable to show that the behavior isn’t acceptable, they were pardoned by President in 2025, ensuring he had an extreme loyal following. This is what McCoy, Rahman, and Somer were referring to; a consequence of legislative gridlock, by aligning oneself with this kind of behavior it makes it harder to govern the people because they lose trust within their own government, which brings me to my next point, the elimination of judicial review. 

We don’t trust our government 

As the cost of living rises, groceries at an all-time high, and the people of the U.S. struggle many are questioning the Trump administrations “Make America Great Again” slogan. We now see things like tariff increases, a larger gap between classes and what appears to be oligarchal forms of government, and our elected officials don’t seem to be doing much to remedy it. Instead, we have legislators pushing through illiberal laws weakening the foundation of the Constitution and blurring the lines of checks and balances within our government. A clear sign that we are not only backsliding democratically but also judicially, as there has been little to no push back it seems on what the republican party has been doing the last 4 months. With busiest shipping dock basically a desolate ghost town, the question poses who we turn to if it seems like law makers are only voting for their own benefit, that’s why you see a rise in mistrust in the government as of late.  

   The signs of Stealth Authoritarianism 

 One of the most dangerous methods of authoritarianism and a clear sign of democratic erosion is losing faith in the system itself because it becomes so corrupt that you don’t trust the people in the office. The entire point of the United States was political and religious freedom; America is supposed to be a prime example of a hypothetical perfect and democratic state looks like. However, we see examples of things such as packing courts to ensure loyal subjects, silencing press, and allowing elected officials to evade taxes and pass unconstitutional laws. in “Stealth Authoritarianism” by Ozan o. Varol refers to all of this as an “evolved form of authoritarianism”. In history we have seen examples of stealth authoritarianism in Egypt, Russia, Turkey and Now the U.S if we are not careful, things like gerrymandering and voter suppression laws.   

So, how do we stop authoritarianism from taking over our country and ruining democracy? Levitsky and Ziblatt say by uniting and not allowing political extremist to even have a platform or “gatekeeping”; by keeping them away from politics all together we can stop the destruction of democracy. Another way is to be pro-democratic and voting in favor of the rights for everyone, even if those things don’t affect you. Lastly, by noticing the signs that were discussed in this post, we can all do our due diligence and keep democracy safe. 

Stealth Authoritarianism
Ozan O. Varol

https://ilr.law.uiowa.edu/sites/ilr.law.uiowa.edu/files/2023-02/ILR-100-4-Varol.pdf

Polarization and the Global Crisis of Democracy: Common Patterns, Dynamics, and Pernicious Consequences for Democratic Polities By: Jennifer McCoy, Tahmina Rahman, and Murat Somer