McLarenblog

The USA is destined to be autocratic according to a number of reputable sources.  Let’s show you a partial list of these predictions:

Warning signs:

• “US could be under rightwing dictator by 2030, Canadian professor warns”
• “Can Canada withstand the U.S. slide to fascism?”
  
• “Opinion:  Trump would make America a dictatorship”
• “TRUMP MAKES IT CLEAR HE’D BE AN OUT AND OUT DICTATOR IF REELECTED IN 2024”
• “WHY THE NEXT REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT CAN BECOME A DICTATOR IF TRUMP IS NOT PROSECUTED FOR HIS CRIMES”

How, in the past, have democracies changed into being authoritarian?  Why does this happen?  Let us examine a few past methods used to overthrow a democracy.

Political Radicalization and Social Desperation

• “One way is the result of political polarization, where the competing political sides no longer want to cooperate with one another, allowing violent or extremist groups to take over politics instead.”
  
  

Dissatisfied Elites 

•  “A democracy can also fall when a country’s elites feel that democracy no longer “works” for them.”
• “In some cases, democracies fall into dictatorships when “elites” (that is to say, people in important positions in society such as political leadership, business, finance, religion, or the military) feel that the democratic system no longer “works” for them; the system is at odds with their financial or political interests.”

Apathetic and Alienated Voters

• “Democracies can also fall into dictatorships when voters become politically apathetic, thereby withdrawing themselves from participation in the political process. This is a growing problem in many democracies, as indicated by falling voter turnouts across much of the democratic world.”

Methods for creating voter apathy by the United States Republican Party:  

• 1). Voter suppression.  Currently being done in United States red or heavily Republican states.
• 2)  Encroachments onto free speech. 

 Summary:

So much of the United States institutions and the voting public have put up with despicable actions from politicians, special interest groups, wealthy donors, mass media outlets, TV hosts, etc.  There has been sort of a collective trend of deplorable actions that has resulted in a gradual shift of general public expected norms away from democratic norms but now a belief that authoritarian  rule might make for a better living environment.  Part of this attraction to authoritarianism is it looks to be way more simple.  Democracy as practiced in the United States can look to be complex and messy and some times ruled by special interests and not for the best interest of the whole public.

 

Recommended Reading:

• How Dictators Come To Power In A Democracy
• How Do Democracies Turn Into Dictatorships?
• Did Trump damage American democracy?

 

Posted June 12, 2022