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It Could Happen Here - The Humanist (June 11)
The Humanist
BY JULIA SHAPIRO •
11 JUNE 2020
Many Americans believe that no matter what, our democratic system can correct itself. It’s become a bit of popular wisdom to condescendingly reassure nervous Americans that we’ve been through worse than this administration; relax, the wisdom goes, we’ll be fine. We survived the Civil War, both World Wars, Watergate, 9/11, and dozens of other crises and have come out on the other side stronger (although many minority groups have suffered greatly).
As a political science student, the mystique of American-style democracy is somewhat diminished. Among numerous studies, graphs, charts, and raw data, it becomes obvious that our system has the same vulnerabilities as any other democratic system. It’s the particular problems facing us today that are making those vulnerabilities clear. A poorly educated and misinformed electorate, rampant conspiracy theories and mistrust, widespread dissatisfaction with politics, rapid social change, extreme cultural and political polarization, and counter-majoritarian institutions—namely the US Senate and the Electoral College—have been problems for decades now. All that was needed to ignite the flame was a charismatic leader with authoritarian tendencies who could command a third of our country at will.
We might imagine an authoritarian state to look like Stalin’s Soviet Union or Nazi Germany. But the truth is that many of us, going about our normal lives, wouldn’t realize we’d gone from living under a democracy to living under authoritarianism until it was too late.
It may still seem farfetched to many that the United States could ever become an authoritarian state. Myriad examples of democratic backsliding and decline around the world—in Turkey, Brazil, the Philippines, Hungary, Poland, Venezuela, the Czech Republic, Nigeria—are all cases of countries with a history of instability and a clear weakness for authoritarian leaders.
As a political science student, the mystique of American-style democracy is somewhat diminished. Among numerous studies, graphs, charts, and raw data, it becomes obvious that our system has the same vulnerabilities as any other democratic system. It’s the particular problems facing us today that are making those vulnerabilities clear. A poorly educated and misinformed electorate, rampant conspiracy theories and mistrust, widespread dissatisfaction with politics, rapid social change, extreme cultural and political polarization, and counter-majoritarian institutions—namely the US Senate and the Electoral College—have been problems for decades now. All that was needed to ignite the flame was a charismatic leader with authoritarian tendencies who could command a third of our country at will.
We might imagine an authoritarian state to look like Stalin’s Soviet Union or Nazi Germany. But the truth is that many of us, going about our normal lives, wouldn’t realize we’d gone from living under a democracy to living under authoritarianism until it was too late.
It may still seem farfetched to many that the United States could ever become an authoritarian state. Myriad examples of democratic backsliding and decline around the world—in Turkey, Brazil, the Philippines, Hungary, Poland, Venezuela, the Czech Republic, Nigeria—are all cases of countries with a history of instability and a clear weakness for authoritarian leaders.
Read more: https://thehumanist.com/commentary/it-could-happen-here