The information for this article came from a NY&T Opinion piece of the same title, May 8, 2025, by Steven Levitsky, Lucan Way and Daniel Ziblatt. The authors are political scientists who study how democracies come to an end.
In a democracy, anyone can peacefully criticize the government without fear of retribution from the government. There is no “cost of opposition”. Under authoritarianism, by contrast, opposition comes with a price.
According to the authors, “Citizens and organizations that run afoul of the government become targets of a range of punitive measures. When citizens must think twice about criticizing or opposing the government because they could credibly face government retribution, they no longer live in a full democracy. The Trump administration has taken (or credibly threatened) punitive action against a strikingly large number of individuals and organizations that it considers its opponents.”
These individuals include: James Comey (former FBI Dir), Lisa Cook (Fed Gov), Adam Schiff (led House prosecution of Trump impeachment), Letitia James (NY AG prosecuted Trump), law firms, universities, Donors to Democratic party, the media (AP, ABC, CBS, NYT), PBS/NPR and Republican politicians (who don’t vote with Trump).
The charges that individuals face are often meaningless or petty (James Comey’s charges are exceptionally weak and expected to be dismissed or quickly litigated), businesses may be audited by the IRS or stripped of important licenses, media organizations may be subjected to punitive regulatory rulings or simply denied access, universities may lose grants or tax-exempt status, and journalists or critics may be harassed or threatened by government supporters.
Not all authoritarian regimes are dictatorships. According to the article “Most 21st-century autocrats are elected. Rather than violently suppress opposition like Castro or Pinochet, today’s autocrats convert public institutions into political weapons, using law enforcement, tax and regulatory agencies to punish opponents and bully the media and civil society onto the sidelines.” This is called competitive authoritarianism, “a system in which parties compete in elections but the systematic abuse of an incumbent’s power tilts the playing field against the opposition.”
While American democracy has weakened, the question is how far the administration will be allowed to go. As the authors put it, “So far, American society’s response to this authoritarian offensive has been underwhelming — alarmingly so.”
Too many “civil society leaders” have remained silent, acquiescing to this “authoritarian bullying”, which only emboldens autocrats. “Appeasement, as Churchill warned, is like feeding a crocodile and hoping to be the last one eaten”.
Lisa Murkowski, Republican Senator from Alaska commented on the fear of retribution Republicans face in Trump’s congress:
“We are all afraid. It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. And I’ll tell you, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”
America’s courts have largely blocked the worst measures of the administration (although the Supreme Court has enabled Trump on an increasing number of cases). But they can’t be expected to do the job by themselves. As the authors say, “American civil society has the financial and organizational muscle to resist Mr. Trump’s authoritarian offensive, but they must come forward.”
“So far, the most energetic opposition has come not from civic leaders but from everyday citizens, showing up at congressional town hall meetings or participating in Hands Off rallies across the country. Our leaders must follow their example.”
An effective defense of our democracy needs prominent, well-funded individuals and organizations to join the effort, those with the resources to withstand the government’s actions.