Part One: The Method of Decline
Democracies do not always die with gunfire and martial law. Often, they slip into authoritarianism gradually, through legal reforms, cultural shifts, and the corrosion of trust. The symbols of democracy remain in place: elections, legislatures, flags, but the substance fades. Citizens still vote, but their choices are manipulated. Laws are still passed, but they serve a single faction. Courts still meet, but they no longer act as
independent arbiters.
Democracies rarely die with a bang. They degrade quietly, through laws, norms, and stories that turn citizens into subjects.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, in her widely discussed book Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, offers a sobering history of how elected leaders turn democracies into autocracies from within. Her focus is not just on the usual suspects from history, Mussolini, Hitler, and Franco, but on modern-day strongmen like Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Viktor Orbán, and Donald Trump.
What unites these leaders is not ideology but method. They begin by presenting themselves as saviors of the nation during a time of perceived crisis. They promise to restore greatness, purge corruption, and protect a threatened people. Once in power, they set about weakening the institutions that could restrain them: the judiciary, the press, and civil society. They do not always resort to violence. Often they use the law. The result is a hollowed-out democracy that retains its forms but loses its freedom.
Norms Are the First to Fall
The erosion begins with norms. These are the unwritten rules that govern political behavior. In the United States, they include releasing tax returns, respecting the independence of federal agencies, and accepting the results of elections. When a leader breaks these norms and faces no meaningful consequences, the public grows numb. Shock turns to fatigue. Fatigue turns to acceptance.
Donald Trump tested and violated dozens of these norms during his rise to power and throughout his presidency. He publicly threatened opponents, politicized the Justice Department, and refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. Each violation served a purpose. It trained the public to expect less and accept more.
Ben-Ghiat emphasizes that authoritarian leaders often do not begin by abolishing institutions. They begin by undermining the public’s confidence in those institutions. Once that trust is gone, it becomes easier to justify extraordinary measures.
Capturing Institutions
After norms come institutions. Autocrats do not always need to destroy them. It is more effective to co-opt them. Courts are packed with loyalists. Civil service positions are filled based on ideology rather than merit. Public broadcasters become mouthpieces. Electoral commissions are weakened. Watchdog agencies are gutted.
Authoritarians do not always destroy institutions. They often repurpose them.
In the United States, this process has been underway for years. Political operatives have reshaped the judiciary. State legislatures have drawn extreme gerrymanders that all but guarantee one-party control. Media outlets have been flooded with disinformation, not only from fringe voices but also from elected officials.
This pattern is not unique to America. Viktor Orbán in Hungary reshaped the constitution to entrench his party’s dominance. Erdoğan dismissed thousands of judges and civil servants after a failed coup. Putin changed election laws to keep opponents off the ballot.
The lesson is clear. Democratic institutions do not always need to be dismantled. They only need to be redirected.
Corruption as Governance
Ben-Ghiat describes corruption not just as a feature of authoritarian regimes but as a tool of governance. Corruption binds loyalists to the leader. It creates a climate of fear and dependency. It demoralizes opponents. And it signals that the rules no longer apply.
The United States is not immune to this trend. Campaign finance has become a conduit for influence. Politicians leave office to become lobbyists. Regulatory agencies are staffed with former industry executives. These practices have existed for decades, but they accelerated after a pivotal court ruling in 2010.
That ruling was Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
Part Two: The Tools of Capture
Citizens United and the Legalization of Oligarchy
The Citizens United decision allowed corporations and outside groups to spend unlimited money on elections, provided they do not coordinate directly with campaigns. While the decision was framed as a matter of free speech, its impact was to supercharge the political influence of the wealthy.
Citizens United didn’t break democracy overnight: it legalized its capture by private interests.
Ben-Ghiat warns that authoritarian regimes often mask themselves in legality. They do not violate the law; they change it. Citizens United was a textbook example of how legal reforms can undermine democratic equality without a single bullet fired.
Since the decision, the United States has seen an explosion of dark money, super PACs, and outside groups that flood elections with untraceable funding. Political advertising is no longer just a matter of persuasion. It is a way to drown out competing voices. Elected officials become more beholden to donors than to constituents.
This is not an accident. It is a redefinition of who gets to participate in democracy.
Project 2025 and the Blueprint for Autocracy
If Citizens United was a legal turning point, Project 2025 is a strategic one. Drafted by the Heritage Foundation and supported by a coalition of right-wing organizations, Project 2025 is a comprehensive plan to remake the federal government in the image of a single party.
The plan includes proposals to:
- Replace career civil servants with political appointees
- Centralize power in the presidency
- Eliminate independent oversight of the executive branch
- Restructure the Department of Justice to prioritize loyalty
- Embed Christian nationalist values in public policy
This is not just a shift in policy. It is a fundamental reimagining of how government works. Bureaucracy becomes obedience. The rule of law becomes the rule of loyalty.
Ben-Ghiat writes about this transformation in her analysis of how strongmen use institutional capture to entrench their power. Orbán did it. Putin did it. Erdoğan did it. Trump’s allies now seek to do the same, not through revolution but through regulation.
Project 2025 is often described in bureaucratic language — reform, efficiency, leadership. But at its core, it is an authoritarian manifesto.
Project 2025 is not a reform agenda. It is a blueprint for authoritarian rule by legal means.
The Role of Culture and Belonging
Authoritarianism is not just structural. It is cultural. It tells stories about who belongs and who does not. It defines “the people” in narrow, exclusive terms. It appeals to resentment and fear.
This narrative took center stage when Vice President J. D. Vance stated that American citizenship should be defined not by shared values or civic participation, but by “heritable” identity. In other words, bloodline matters more than belief.
J.D. Vance’s vision of citizenship by blood is not a return to tradition—it is a departure from democracy.
That statement marks a profound shift in how we understand democracy. The United States has long claimed to be a nation of ideals. Vance’s comments suggest a return to a vision rooted in ancestry, exclusion, and privilege.
Ben-Ghiat identifies this kind of messaging as a classic feature of authoritarian regimes. Leaders define “real” citizens in ways that exclude minorities, immigrants, and dissenters. This serves both to unify the base and to justify the repression of others.
How Democracies Fight Back
If there is one lesson in Strongmen, it is that authoritarianism is not inevitable. Resistance is possible. But it requires clarity, coordination, and courage.
Ben-Ghiat calls for the cultivation of “democratic muscle.” This means civic engagement beyond voting. It means joining local organizations, supporting independent media, challenging disinformation, and demanding accountability.
Defending democracy also requires institutional reform. Campaign finance must be restructured. Voting rights must be protected. The civil service must be insulated from political control. Courts must remain independent.
And perhaps most importantly, the public must reject authoritarian narratives. Citizenship must remain rooted in values, not blood. Power must remain accountable to law, not loyalty. Truth must be defended, even when it is inconvenient.
Authoritarianism is not inevitable. But democracy must be defended before it disappears in plain sight
Conclusion: The Time to Act
The erosion of democracy is not theoretical. It is happening. It is happening in laws passed, in norms violated, in stories told about who belongs and who does not.
Citizens United gave money more voice than people.
Project 2025 offers a roadmap to autocracy.
J. D. Vance provides the exclusionary language to justify it.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat has shown us what comes next, unless we act.
Democratic institutions do not collapse. They are hollowed out, one quiet decision at a time.
Democracy does not protect itself. It depends on citizens who are willing to see clearly, speak honestly, and resist collectively.
The wake-up call is not in the future. It is here. It is now. It is us.