These days, most autocracies actually exist within some traditional but deformed democratic framework. There are separate legislative and judicial branches but those are simply organs of the autocrat. This democratic framework gives rise to the phrase "illiberal democracy" which is, to my mind, and oxymoron as well a euphemism for an autocracy or at least a one-party state.
One of the most overlooked parts of Trump's rise to power is that the vehicle for that ascent, the Republican party, had already given up on large parts of the democratic process long before he even became an actual contender. There has been an ever-present strain of that illiberalism inside the conservative movement for well over a century at least. But, in the modern era, it really gained traction during the Gingrich revolution with the realization and/or fear that Republicans could become a permanent minority party unless the rules of the game were changed or ignored. There is a through line from Gingrich's failed government shutdowns, to Tom Delay's in-decade gerrymanders, to Karl Rove's use of US Attorneys to suppress Democratic votes, to McConnell's total obstruction of Obama policies and judicial appointments.
Those efforts gained steam after the 2010 election and census, abetted by the Supreme Court's decision to gut the Voting Rights Act. That set off an enormous attempt to suppress Democratic votes in swing-state legislatures controlled by Republicans, either through illegal racial and/or partisan gerrymanders as well as restricting voting rights.
Over the course of two decades, Republicans came to believe that there was no rule that couldn't be violated, no norm that couldn't be destroyed in furtherance of the conservative project at the expense of our democracy.
That attitude was illustrated by Mitch McConnell's unprecedented blocking of Obama's judicial and diplomatic nominees, culminating in the refusal to give Merrick Garland even a hearing and prohibiting a President of the opposition party from rightfully filling the vacant Supreme Court seat as demanded by the Constitution. In fact, some Republican Senators expressed the opinion that no Democratic president should have the right to appoint a Supreme Court justice that would swing the Court to liberal control.
It was further illustrated by the numerous and interminable Benghazi hearings which were a true political witch hunt. Those investigations may have had some credibility in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy but had no relevance to the October, 2015 grilling that Clinton had to endure, three years after the event and 2-3/4 years after she had resigned as Secretary of State. That was simply abusing the investigative power of Congress to go after a political opponent for nothing more than a political purpose, as Kevin McCarthy readily admitted.
But the Republican disdain for our democracy was best illustrated by the refusal of GOP party leaders to not only condemn the attack on our electoral process, the very heart of our democracy, but also the refusal to make any attempt to defend the country from that Russian attack when confronted with evidence of it, a situation that exists to this day.
In addition, for years Republicans have been using another tactic of autocrats, namely to shape the electorate that is allowed to vote. Rather than outlawing specific candidates or parties, Republicans have focused on restricting access to certain groups consisting largely of their opponents while engaging in extreme partisan gerrymandering. While these tactics may not be as heavy-handed as outlawing parties and candidates, the goal is the same, to create an electorate designed to guarantee a "victory" for the autocrat. Some will say that these tactics are just hardball politics but they have, in fact, been ruled illegal in Texas, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, always restricting Democratic votes.
Like Trump's moral failings, which repudiated everything the Republican party had stood for, his refusal to abide by the results of the election if he were to lose was largely accepted by those in the party. Similarly, Trump's refusal to release his taxes, breaking a 40 year old norm that was specifically created because of massive Presidential corruption, was given a pass by the Republicans.
The point being that the Republican party had already established the conditions for the emergence of an autocrat as their standard-bearer. And Donald Trump's racist and xenophobic rhetoric was the perfect message for the demographically challenged white working class voters who were increasingly inclined to accept an autocracy as their perceived status diminished.
And govern as autocrat is exactly what Trump has done. He immediately violated the tradition of the incoming President not involving himself in foreign affairs until he was inaugurated. Like any good autocrat, he ensures that he and his family can profit from his office, as do those in his good graces, as Pruitt, Zinke, Broidy, and even Cohen illustrate. His refusal to separate from his business interests is a direct violation of the Constitution and the Emoluments Clause. There are numerous indications that outright bribery has influenced Trump's foreign policy decisions.
Like any good autocrat, Trump's economic policies, specifically his penchant for unilaterally imposed tariffs, are designed to illustrate that he will determine the winners and losers, further enhancing his chances for receiving kickbacks or bribes in various forms. That was also illustrated by his unprecedented and unlawful leaking of the employment numbers before they were officially released. Similarly, his desire to replace multilateral trade deals with bilateral ones seems to be designed to further his opportunities to be bribed. His gutting of the State Department, thereby requiring the personal intervention of Trump and his family, accomplishes a similar goal.
Within weeks of assuming office, Trump directed government employees to go and illegally seize his medical records from a private doctor in direct violation of the law, indicating his immediate willingness to use government resources for his own benefit, again like any successful autocrat.
Like any good autocrat, Trump has demanded the investigation of his political opponents and has reportedly even paid for a foreign company to get dirt on advocates of a policy he opposes. He has accused Democrats of treason.
Beyond his political opponents, like any good autocrat Trump knows the value of establishing and attacking an enemy within. For the Soviets, this was the Jews. For Putin, it was the Jews and the LBGTQ community. For Trump, it is Muslims, immigrants, and Hispanics. At various times, he has called them "terrorists", "drug smugglers", and "animals".
In the same vein, Trump's administration has made no effort to determine the mass loss of life, much of it preventable, in Puerto Rico and has left the island totally unprotected for this upcoming hurricane season. He has essentially implemented the tactic of collective punishment by separating families who come to this country seeking asylum.
Like any good autocrat, Trump tries to control the media. He has constantly attacked the independent media and threatened them with government action to interfere with their business. And like an good autocrat, Trump's fusillade of lies is actually designed to make him the only arbiter of truth. And, like any good autocrat, Trump has the backing of a massive and powerful propaganda machine, including Fox News, Sinclair Broadcasting, talk radio, and social media.
Like any good autocrat, Trump is intent on destroying those who have the temerity to investigate and challenge him. He has consistently engaged in a broad obstruction of justice, firing the man who was investigating him and demanding and getting investigations of those who continued that original investigation. He is demanding and getting details of that investigation into his potential crimes and he has continually lied about the details of those potential crimes. And now he has admitted that he himself did write the original letter downplaying the Trump Tower meeting with the Russians and has continually lied about it.
Like any good autocrat, Trump has attacked members of the judiciary that have ruled against him and his administration and has stated that "As the leader of the free world, I should be able to do what I choose. The court shouldn't be able to get involved". And because of the Republican obstruction of Obama's nominees, Trump has been able to fill the courts, even a Supreme Court seat that may have been purchased with a $1 million bribe, with hacks that will probably support his autocratic tendencies. Trump's use of pardon power outside of the normal procedure is an attempt to make him the final arbiter of what is lawful and what is not and who is a criminal and who is not. Certain criminal acts that the President presumably also engages can be forgiven if you are on the President's side.
And now we have reached the next level of our burgeoning autocracy with the President explicitly claiming that he is above the law. According to the NY Times, the President's lawyers have written a memo to Mueller in which they contend "that the president cannot illegally obstruct any aspect of the investigation into Russia’s election meddling because the Constitution empowers him to, 'if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon'." The President apparently believes that he can end any federal investigation that he wishes because of his executive power. The letter states, "Indeed, the President not only has unfettered statutory and Constitutional authority to terminate the FBI Director...He also has Constitutional authority to direct the Justice Department to open or close an investigation, and, of course, the power to pardon any person before, during, or after an investigation and/or conviction."
As I've written before, Trump is an extortionist and it now appears that Trump is actually trying to force a constitutional crisis in the hopes of actually beginning impeachment proceedings that he believes he will survive because of his Republican support in the Senate. And that means his abuses of power and moves toward autocracy will actually increase in the coming days and months. Trump is unleashed and will continue to dismantle our democracy in furtherance of his own power. And he will be daring our other institutions to stop him.
In her rules for surviving autocracy, Masha Gessen warned that our institutions will not save us. Some have pointed to the pushback against Trump's abuses by the media and the judiciary as evidence that our institutions are holding. But two of the most important institutions we have are failing badly. The Republican party may not be one of my favorites but they are an important political institution in this country. But the party is irretrievably broken and has become a destructive force to our democracy. And the breakdown of the institution of the Republican party has led directly to the breakdown of the institution of Congress which has totally abdicated it constitutional responsibilities of oversight of the executive branch and is engaged in a similar attempt at destruction of the judicial branch. When two of the three branches of our democracy are broken and/or corrupted and the third is being populated with cronies and hacks of a budding autocrat and a party interested only in maintaining its own power, our institutions are clearly not holding. And our democracy is in serious trouble.
I have no idea whether Trump is a true autocrat or whether his narcissism, egomania, and corruption drive him to use the tactics of an autocrat. For the country, it really doesn't make any difference, even though he is not very good at it. What I do know is that the Republican party created the conditions within the party and within the country for someone with Trump's autocratic tendencies to ascend to the presidency. And the Republican party continues to enable Trump every single day. Every single day, just one Republican Senator, Jeff Flake or Bob Corker, say, or Speaker Paul Ryan, say, could actually decide to take their constitutional responsibilities seriously and actually force the Congress to restrain and check Trump's abuses. And every single day, they do not.
Bob Corker, in response to Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and the EU and his directive to force power-grid operators to purchase energy from coal and nuclear plants, tweeted "These two stories feel like something I could have read in a local Caracas newspaper last week, not in America. Venezuela, here WE come!" But it is doubtful that Corker or his Republican colleagues will be willing or able to do anything to change that. Trump is the Maduro that the Republican party created and enabled and the autocrat the Republican party wants.
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