Under President Donald Trump, the United States has experienced the early stages of democratic backsliding. As seen in Turkey, Russia, Hungary, Poland, and recently India, an elected leader erodes democratic norms, overcomes restrictions on executive power, installs loyalists in key agencies, and attacks independent sources of information. Where they can, these would-be authoritarians use state power to gain electoral advantage. Eventually, they rig elections and change constitutions to keep themselves in power.
It’s been almost four years, and we’ve seen Trump cast aside norms, break laws, violate the Constitution, and use his position to make money off U.S. taxpayers and foreign governments, all without facing any real consequences. He successfully stymied investigations by the FBI, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and the House of Representatives. He fired inspectors general — the independent watchdogs installed in post-Nixon reforms — because they did their job and reported illegal and unethical activity. Senate Republicans protected him from impeachment.
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