There is a brilliant book I’d like to recommend to anyone grappling with the unprecedented events overtaking our country. Written by a pair of history and government professors at Harvard, and it is titled How Democracies Die.
Representative Louis Gohmert of Texas recently warned, “Mamas don’t let your babies go to Harvard.” Presumably, he considers book-learning a dangerous thing. But for those who respect facts, and find ignorance a greater danger than knowledge, this book is quite informative.
It discusses numerous countries, from Latin America to Europe and Asia, where democratically elected governments have devolved into authoritarian regimes. The path is littered with sad histories.
The authors demonstrate that words matter. Dictatorships often begin with lapses of civility. Name-calling marks the aspiring tyrant’s effort to demonize and marginalize his opponents. It weakens the public’s faith in checks and balances and delegitimizes rivals who disagree with the chief executive.
Whether it was Chavez in Venezuela or Fujimori in Peru, these men make a habit of calling duly elected opponents names like “rancid pigs” and “traitors.” Likewise, the media is termed “enemies of the people” or even “promoters of terrorism.” Followers who see which way the wind is blowing repeat these insults loudly and often to undercut the Great Leader’s critics.
Next, it’s important to “capture the referees,” to borrow a sports term. Judges are bribed, sidelined, or cherry-picked. Courts are packed with sympathizers. This took place in Hungary and Poland in recent years, allowing rising dictators to appoint supporters ready to approve questionable acts. With judicial complicity, the free press can be silenced through defamation lawsuits or selective tax enforcement. Erdogan in Turkey and Putin in Russia have accomplished this over the past decade.
As authoritarian rule advances, congressional assemblies may be dissolved and opponents removed from office, under claims that such steps are needed to clean up corruption or for some national emergency. These shocking moves fly in the face of constitutional protections, but willing courts may rubberstamp them, regardless.
To stay in power, dictators sabotage elections. They invite outside interference, intimidate opponents’ supporters, and seize control of voting machines. If any of this sounds familiar, we need to realize, “It CAN happen here.” After all, a renewal of our landmark Voting Rights Act is opposed by nearly all Republicans in Congress.
Read, think, inform yourself. And be ready to fight for your democratic rights.
Anesa Miller
Bowling Green
