This is President’s Day in America and it’s worth considering what leading political scientists are saying about the state of our democracy. Thanks to NPR, we know the following:
Staffan I. Lindberg, the director of Sweden's V-Dem Institute, which monitors democracy across the globe, says the U.S. has already crossed the threshold and become an "electoral autocracy."
Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University and co-author of How Democracies Die, puts it this way:
“I would argue that the United States in 2025-26 has slid into a mild form of competitive authoritarianism,” Levitsky said. “I think it’s reversible, but this is authoritarianism.”
Under competitive authoritarianism, countries still hold elections, but the ruling party uses various tactics — attacking the press, disenfranchising voters, weaponizing the justice system and threatening critics — to tilt the electoral playing field in its favor.
There are those who disagree, of course, but most of the leading scholars are deeply concerned.
So am I.
Read the entire report from NPR here.
HEADLINES:
Concerns over autocracy in the U.S. continue to grow (NPR)
‘It’s never too late’: Savannah Guthrie’s new plea for mother’s release as FBI analyses glove (BBC)
Why these researchers say AI could be mortal threat to democracy (SFC)
This Is What Destroying the Vaccine Market Looks Like (Bulwark)
DHS says immigration agents appear to have lied about shooting in Minnesota (NPR)
America is on the verge of a new type of racial reckoning (CNN)
Primary season has arrived. Why these races matter so much in 2026. (WP)
Farmers Are Aging. Their Kids Don’t Want to Be in the Family Business. (WSJ)
The vanishing 16-year-old driver (Business Insider)
Rubio slams European policies on climate, migration as he calls for unity (Al Jazeera)
Europeans push back at US over claim they face ‘civilizational erasure’ (AP)
Deep in China’s Mountains, a Nuclear Revival Takes Shape (NYT)
Epstein files fallout takes down elite figures in Europe, while U.S. reckoning is muted (NPR)
‘I feel like a ghost’: new father deported by ICE to Bhutan that exiled his family (Guardian)
Trump and Netanyahu align on Iran pressure but split on endgame (Al Jazeera)
5 Ways to Handle a Robot When It Goes Rogue (CNET)
AI is advancing too quickly for research to keep up (Axios)
Finnish Ski Jumping Team Caught Tampering With Earth’s Gravitational Field (Onion)
No comments:
Post a Comment