1. Last night's results offer key lessons regarding the struggle to protect democracy and defeat Republican authoritarianism. It's going to be a frustrating, long road, but we can still win that fight. Here's what I've learned from studying democratic breakdown around the world:
2. There are two major fronts in this political battle. The first is the fight to protect democratic institutions. This is crucial. Right now, Democrats have power. They need to wield it to decisively reform our institutions and protect voting rights. This is an emergency.
3. The second front is the fight to maintain political power. This isn't about protecting institutions, but rather is about keeping a fundamentally authoritarian party (the post-Trump GOP) out of power *until* the party is defeated enough to revert to being broadly pro-democracy.
4. You can't do one or the other. You have to do both. If you protect institutions, but lose national power to an authoritarian party, democracy is doomed. If you maintain power but don't reform the system, the victories can be short-lived; the authoritarian threat will remain.
5. That's why Democrats must see the bigger picture. The window to save American democracy is, in my view, closing. But if Democrats pass big, bold popular legislation and protect voting rights while reforming dysfunctional aspects of our democracy/elections, it can be saved.
6. The problem with democratic breakdown/creeping authoritarianism, is that it often is neglected as a serious, realistic risk...until it's too late. Countries that let democracy die very rarely rebuild it. If they do, it takes decades. Protecting democracy is much, much easier.
7. But as someone who studies this stuff, I'm more worried about US democracy now than I have ever been. The post-Trump GOP adopted Trump's authoritarianism, but is pushing it with far more strategic effectiveness. And authoritarian lies are now a clear litmus test in the GOP.
8. Yes, this is depressing. But as someone who has seen firsthand what happens when democracies die all over the world - with tragic effects - the ongoing struggle to protect and preserve US democracy is worth it. Now, Democrats: get to work. Treat this like the emergency it is.
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