It was Friday, April 21, 1967. I had gotten up very early to go over the material of a difficult college exam later that day when my father came in and told me that there was a coupe d’ etat in process and a strict curfew in place. That’s how the seven-year military dictatorship started that day in Greece. Rolling the tanks out of the barracks and laying siege to critical government buildings in a country’s capital and other key cities was the preferred method of establishing dictatorships in the 1960s and 1970s around the world.
In almost every case the assumption of extraordinary emergency powers by a strongman and the army was not in response to threats from abroad but rather from an alleged enemy from within. The standard rationale was to establish “law and order” and protect the people from dark domestic enemies. There was always a significant portion of the population that felt relieved and willing to substitute authoritarian rule for civil liberties and constitutional protections in the name of a vague fear of civic unrest and insecurity. To others violent suspension of the constitutional order was their way to impose their will.
That was the technology of producing dictatorships and illiberal political orders back then. Since then the technology has been refined. The origination point has been moved from the army barracks to the judiciary system. Hungary’s Orban and Poland’s Law and Justice party have been successful in appropriating their countries’ justice systems in order to intimidate and neutralize their political opponents, including the press. Putin is doing it in Russia and Erdogan in Turkey. These countries are nominal democracies with duly elected officials. But they are not true democracies. Control of the judiciary system easily translates into control of the law enforcement apparatus. When the government arbitrarily prosecutes and compliant courts convict who needs the armed forces?
Apart from articulating wishes with an authoritarian flavor, unusual for an American president, few thought early on that the Trump presidency threatened the essence of American democracy. Not anymore. There is a growing concern that liberal democracy in America is at risk. Why the recent reckoning? Because all the major pillars of a liberal democracy have come under assault or are found wanting. This should have both conservatives and liberals worry.
Independent administration of justice. Citizens must feel free of coercion or intimidation from the judiciary arm of the government. From the start of his term, President Trump made it known he wanted an Attorney General who would protect his interests. Finally, in early 2019, he got one who comes close to fitting this job description. Consistent with his view that the constitution gives the president nearly unchecked powers, Attorney General Barr has fostered than restrained President Trump’s predilection for absolute power. Barr has given favorable spins of damning reports (e.g., the Mueller Report) and has launched investigations of those who have caused problems for the President. Equally worrisome is Barr’s publicly declared disdain and demonization of secularism and his siding with religious interests in legal matters that refer to the constitutional separation of church and state. Instead of practicing neutrality, Barr’s Justice Department is seen as aligned with the President’s political agenda. Unsurprisingly, Barr has been accused of weaponizing and politicizing the Justice Department.
An independent and intimidation-free press. Since before the elections of 2016, Donald Trump declared news to be fake and the press an enemy of the people. Whether this claim is believed or not by the public, it undermines the credibility of news reporting and encourages the public to seek news in unvetted and unreliable corners of the internet. It betrays President Trump’s ulterior end to brand the press irrelevant and thus be left unchecked to shape the political reality for Americans. In a world of “alternative facts” any government tactics and actions become legitimate.
A professional corps of public servants. From the CIA and FBI to inspectors general and diplomats, President Trump sees nothing but a cabal that runs the state apparatus bent on destroying him and governing over Americans from the deep layers of bureaucracy. Thus, he has fired FBI directors, inspectors general, and diplomats. The message is clear and chilling: collaborate or you are out.
Freedom of expression and assembly. Arguably the most important constitutional right of citizens that allows them to express their disapproval of actions or policies of the government and its subdivisions. Thomas Jefferson held civic demonstrations and even disobedience so important as to have said: I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. No such tolerance, let alone appreciation, fills the political philosophy of the current administration. Calling for the intervention of the army and attacking peacefully demonstrating citizens so that the President would walk through was as disgraceful as it was antithetical to the essence of what it means to lead a democracy. And the picture of a military chief in fatigues walking next to the President was a caricature of Latin American strongmen showcasing the support of the army. Thankfully, reaffirming the military’s loyalty to civilian rule, former chiefs of the armed forces were quick to renounce the President’s call to turn the military against Americans. And the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Milley finally found his voice and apologized for his infamous walk. I hope it has not escaped the American people the fact that our laws give the right to some hotheads to burst into a State Capitol building in full semi-automatic gear while demonstrating citizens are harassed and attacked!
Free and fair elections. The impartiality and reliability of American elections are undermined by a patchwork of state rules, practices and mechanics. From partisan gerrymandering to vote suppression and faulty voting mecanics, the American election system is unbecoming of a country that calls itself the greatest democracy on earth. One can see why a system like this is vulnerable to abuse and discrediting and how it can be manipulated by an unscrupulous leader to deny the people the government of their choice.
I am afraid that in good faith many Americans believe what is happening is the unfolding of a ripple in the trajectory of American history that eventually always steers itself back to the course of liberal democracy. But history need not repeat itself and its trajectory may not return toward the desired direction. Just imagine what this president could do if his Secretary of Defense, his Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former military leaders had come out in support of his call for military intervention to “dominate our cities.”
Let's Reason 
The situation is very scary but what is more worrying is if the citizens of America are aware of what their President is trying to achieve. ☹️
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Very good and so true. Scary even, but our military leaders have held up well.
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