Trump on the Road to Kill US Democracy, Claims Vox Analyst

Authoritarian governments come in many forms. In the US, it may not involve outright banning the opposition, imposing martial law, or staging sham elections.

By silencing or co-opting these voices, the ruling party avoids outright bans while ensuring challengers remain too weak to threaten its hold on power.

Instead, it could mean twisting laws to gradually weaken the opposition’s ability to compete fairly, Cameron Peters reported, citing colleague Zack Beauchamp’s analysis for Vox.

Competitive authoritarian regimes often use burdensome tax audits, dubious criminal investigations, and selective enforcement of campaign finance rules against rivals.

They also target the ecosystem around opposition parties—donors, activist groups, and independent media—making it harder for them to survive.

By silencing or co-opting these voices, the ruling party avoids outright bans while ensuring challengers remain too weak to threaten its hold on power.

In the US context, Beauchamp argues, this could mean corporations rely on White House goodwill, leading wealthy donors to abandon Democrats, while much of the media falls under the control of regime-friendly oligarchs.

What remains of independent journalism and liberal activism would face relentless state harassment, draining their resources on an increasingly uneven playing field.