The point of my weekly tip sheet is to give you an inside look at the trends I am paying attention to in our political and legal system. Each time I have sat down to write something since the election, I am bothered by this recurring phrase that I simply cannot get out of my head.
So, this week I am going to just say it out loud: we are on our own.
I realize this raises as many questions as it answers. Who are the “we?” Where, exactly, are the “we?” And what do I mean by “on our own?” Let me unpack them in order.
The “we” is the easy part. It includes all of us who care about democracy, rule of law and free and fair elections. It is not a small group.
It includes tens of millions who voted for Kamala Harris and millions more who did not. That includes millions who did not vote as well as many who voted for Trump because they feel like the government is failing them, and Trump seemed like change from the broken status quo.
The hardest part to define and know for certain is where we are. I know for certain where we are heading.
We are sliding towards an illiberal democracy. The phrase, first popularized in the 1990s, took on new urgency in the United States as major figures in Donald Trump’s orbit came to view Viktor Orbán as a leadership role model. As Bill Kristol posted over the weekend. “ABC’s settlement with Trump feels like it could be an inflection point in the Orbanization of our politics.”
While illiberal democracies have elected governments, they lack the guardrails to protect individual freedoms and rights. Things like rule of law, a free press, an independent judiciary and professional civil service are viewed by those in power with hostility. The ruling leader amasses power personally, rather than institutionally, and uses it to reward friends and punish political enemies.
To be clear, the United States is not yet an illiberal democracy, but the movement towards it has accelerated in the weeks since the election. What is most disturbing is that Trump has not yet even taken power.
This brings me to the toughest part…
