May 14th, 2025.

On May 8th, Political Scientists, Steven Levitsky, Lucan Way, and Daniel Zyblatt published an op-ed in the New York Times,

reminding readers that most modern authoritarian leaders are elected.

They maintain their power by using the power of the government, arrests, tax audits, defamation suits,

politically targeted investigations, and so on to punish and silence their opponents. They either

buy or bully the media and civil society

until opposing voices cave to their power.

Levitsky, Wei, and Zyblatt call this system

competitive authoritarianism.

A country that has fallen to it still holds elections,

but the party in power has so weighted the system in its

favor that it's virtually impossible for it to lose. The way to tell if the United States has crossed

the line from democracy to competitive authoritarianism, the political scientists explain,

is to see if people feel safe opposing those in power. Can they safely protest,

publish criticism of the government, support opposition candidates, or does taking a stand

against those in power lead to punishment, either by the government or by government supporters?

Looking at the many ways the Trump administration has been harassing critics, law firms,

universities, judges, and media stations, they conclude that America has crossed the line

into competitive authoritarianism.

Since they made that observation less than a week ago, there has been more evidence of the administration's attempt to consolidate power.

After the National Intelligence Council, or NIC, the nation's top body for analyzing intelligence, produced a report that contradicted President Donald J. Trump's assertion that the Venezuelan government

was directing the actions of the Trend de Aragua, or TDA, gang. Director of National Intelligence,

...