Measuring America’s slide toward democratic erosion.
The crackdown on dissent and speech in Minnesota this winter follows a pattern that is common in countries that slide from democracy to autocracy: A leader enacts a legally dubious policy. Citizens protest that policy. The government responds with intimidation and force. When people are hurt, the government blames them and lies about what happened.
The New York Times editorial board published an index in October tracking 12 categories of democratic erosion, based on historical patterns and interviews with experts. Our index places the United States on a scale of 0 to 10 for each category. Zero represents the United States before President Trump began his second term — not perfect, surely, but one of the world’s healthiest democracies. Ten represents the condition in a true autocracy, such as China, Iran or Russia.
Edit: Adding the metrics that aren’t visible in the archived copy.
- Stifling speech and dissent 4/10
- Persecuting political opponents 5/10
- Bypassing the legislature 4/10
- Defying the courts 2/10
- Declaring false emergencies 5/10
- Using the military at home 2/10
- Vilifying marginalized groups 6/10
- Controlling information 2/10
- Trying to take over universities 2/10
- Creating a cult of personality 6/10
- Using power for personal profit 7/10
- Manipulating the law to stay in power 2/10
I get where you’re coming from, but this isn’t actually helpful. The first step in solving a problem is accurately defining the problem.
America is not an autocracy - yet. And that distinction matters. America has a fascist administration that is working very hard to turn it into an autocracy. But they’re not there yet. So why would you willingly award them a victory they haven’t achieved?
The basics of winning any defensive battle are to make your enemy pay in blood for every inch of ground they gain. Don’t cede that territory without a fight. If the defenders of democracy in America win this, it will be because they wore the Trump administration down, turned every single one of their little fascist power plays into a battle. And if you pay attention to what’s really going on, you’ll see that that’s exactly what’s happening. Trump’s engine of autocracy is constantly sputtering and stalling out. That doesn’t mean they’re failing, but it means they can fail, if the pressure on them is kept up.