NEW: The United States is undergoing "substantial autocratization" under Trump. Historic data show that only 1 in 5 democracies that start down this path are able to reverse the damage before succumbing to full-blown autocracy. washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…
“Everything we see in terms of decline on these [democratic] indicators is exactly the pattern of decline” seen in other autocratizing nations, like Turkey and Hungary, one expert told me. washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…
“Executive respect for the Constitution is now at the lowest level since 1865,” another one told me. “Corruption in the executive branch is basically the worst since Harding.” washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…
This isn't just one guy's opinion. Multiple groups that track the health of democracies -- Freedom House, the V-Dem project, Bright Line Watch -- are showing the exact same thing. washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…
“If Trump wins this election in November, democracy is gone,” the founder of one of the projects told me. “It’s really time to wake up before it’s too late.” washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…
Like I said. The people most steeped in this stuff are sending up huge warning flares, and we in the press haven't figured out how to grapple with that, in part because nothing like this has happened in our lifetimes
The story of America, over at least the past 100+ years, has been the expansion of individual and civil liberties. *None of us* has experienced an authoritarian backslide like what's happening now. We think things will work out, because they always have. washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…
We don't even realize that we're *already* in unprecedented territory. That we're rapidly approaching the point of no return, and may already be past it. washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…
Incidentally, per @BrightLineWatch's 776 experts, one of the democratic principles being weakened most by the Trump administration is protection from government attempts to monitor, attack or punish political opponents.
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.