Historians: Not Too Late to Save US Democracy

CD (Portland) — More than eighty historians of fascism and authoritarianism from around the world have signed an open letter warning that US democracy is in existential peril and urging people to take action now before it’s too late to save it.

“Regardless of the outcome of the United States’ election, democracy as we know it is already imperiled,” the letter opens. “Whether Donald J. Trump is a fascist, a post-fascist populist, an autocrat, or just a bumbling opportunist, the danger to democracy did not arrive with his presidency and goes well beyond November 3rd, 2020,” it continues.

The letter notes that “while democracy appeared to be flourishing everywhere in the years following the end of the Cold War, today it seems to be withering or in full-scale collapse globally.”

Once dismissed as fringe rantings, discussion of creeping authoritarianism—or at least the breakdown of US democracy as we know it—has been increasing in academic and other serious circles during the tenure of President Donald Trump. Such talk has only increased in the wake of statements and actions from the president meant to cast aspersions upon the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, including attempts to discredit mail-in voting as fraudulent and refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses.

Aggressive and violent behavior by Trump supporters—including voter intimidation sometimes perpetrated by armed backers including white supremacists the president commanded to “stand by”—has also alarmed many observers.

Responding to an incident now under FBI investigation in which armed Trump supporters in Texas surrounded and harassed a tour bus transporting campaign staffers for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, Eric Cervini, a historian of LGBT politics and culture, told The Guardian that “as an historian who studied the rise of the Third Reich, I can tell you: This is how a democracy dies.”

“I’ve been an election observer in broken authoritarian countries, and let me tell you: Trump’s behavior would be swiftly and unequivocally condemned by all international election monitors if it was happening elsewhere,” Brian Klaas, a political scientist at the University College London, tweeted last month. “He is behaving like the despots past presidents condemned.”

Anne Berg, a history professor at the University of Pennsylvania whose grandparents were Nazis in Germany, warned the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this month that the United States is in “a rapid descent toward fascism… People need to be aware of the risks we are facing right now.”

According to the Protect Democracy Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, the United States now scores 56 out of 100 on its Democracy Threats Index, released on October 25, indicating a “substantial erosion” of democracy and signifying “high potential for breakdown in the future.”

Full Text

How to Keep the Lights On in Democracies: An Open Letter of Concern by Scholars of Authoritarianism

Regardless of the outcome of the United States’ election, democracy as we know it is already imperiled. However, it is not too late to turn the tide.

Whether Donald J. Trump is a fascist, a post-fascist populist, an autocrat, or just a bumbling opportunist, the danger to democracy did not arrive with his presidency and goes well beyond November 3rd, 2020.

While democracy appeared to be flourishing everywhere in the years following the end of the Cold War, today it seems to be withering or in full-scale collapse globally. As scholars of twentieth century authoritarian populism, fascism, and political extremism, we believe that unless we take immediate action, democracy as we know it will continue in its frightening regression, irrespective of who wins the American presidency in early November.

In contrast to the hollow proclamations of economic and political liberalism’s “inevitable” triumph over authoritarianism in all its iterations, studying the past demonstrates that democracy is extremely fragile and potentially temporary, requiring vigilance and protection. Scholars of race, colonialism, and imperialism have further deepened our perspectives by reminding us of how the myths of national “greatness” were and continue to be written on the backs of largely silenced, marginalized and oftentimes enslaved or unfree, “others.”

We study the conditions that have historically accompanied the rise of authoritarian and fascistic regimes. In nearly every case, we have observed how profound social, political, and economic disruptions, including the ravages of military conflicts, depressions, and the enormous pressures caused by globalization, deeply shook people’s confidence in democracy’s ability to adequately respond to their plights, or even provide basic forms of long-term security.

We have seen all of these patterns in our study of the past, and we recognize the signs of a crisis of democracy in today’s world as well. The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed profound inequalities of class and race across the globe. As the last four years have demonstrated, the temptation to take refuge in a figure of arrogant strength is now greater than ever.

To meet the challenge at hand, there are several things we must do.

We must boldly and unapologetically safeguard critical thinking based on evidence. This includes demonstrating the virtues of entertaining a wide array of positions and perspectives, and support, both in word and deed, for investigative journalism, science and the humanities, and freedom of the press. We need swift and tangible commitments from corporate media organizations and governments to tackle the dangers of misinformation and media concentration. We must encourage coalitions organized across differences of race, class, gender, religion and caste, while respecting the perspectives and experiences of others. We need to reveal and denounce any and all connections between those in power and those vigilante and militia forces using political violence to destabilize our democracies. Much like the active democratic movements across the globe from Nigeria to India, Belarus to Hong Kong, we must be prepared to defend pluralism and democracy against the growing dangers of communal violence and authoritarianism at the ballot box but, if necessary, also through non-violent protest in the streets. We must defend the integrity of the electoral process and ensure the widest possible voter turnouts, not just in this election but in every election large and small in all of our hometowns. And we must re-commit to a global conversation on support for democratic institutions, laws, and practices both within and between our respective countries. This includes directly confronting the unfettered greed that drives global inequality, which has unleashed geopolitical rivalries over access to resources, international migrations, and collapsed state sovereignties all over the world.

We need to turn away from the rule by entrenched elites and return to the rule of law. We must replace the politics of “internal enemies” with a politics of adversaries in a healthy, democratic marketplace of ideas. And above else, we need to work together to find ways to keep the light of democracy shining in our countries and all over the world. Because if we don’t, we will indeed face dark days ahead.

Originally published at Common Dreams. Republished by cc by-sa 3.0. Minor edits for style and content.

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