We must think about transformation, rather than merely restoration. After what the country has already been through, and what is surely still to come while Trumpism is in power, a leap forward is the only thing that might work.
Thomas Zimmer
Posts
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Where Are Aou Going, America? -
Where Are Aou Going, America?But if what comes next is just a return to the deeply insufficient status-quo ante that gave rise to Trumpism in the first place, now additionally burdened with the devastations of Trumpism in power and discredited even further by American elites acquiescing and appeasing, it won’t last.
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Where Are Aou Going, America?In many ways, the Trumpists have fallen short of their own authoritarian ambitions and have failed to consolidate authoritarian rule across all spheres of American life. There is reason to feel more optimistic now than last spring.
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Where Are Aou Going, America?But even though the authoritarian assault on the system has caused tremendous damage, democracy’s fate is not sealed. The fight is not over. Its outcome will be largely determined by whether or not the pro-democracy forces in America can get their act together.
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Where Are Aou Going, America?At the start of 2026, almost one year into Trumpist rule, America can no longer be counted among the world’s democracies. This is not some fringe assessment, but a diagnosis widely shared among scholars of authoritarianism in the United States as well as abroad.
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Where Are Aou Going, America?I dive deep into “The Price of American Authoritarianism,” a crucial essay Steven Levitsky, Lucan Way, and Danile Ziblatt published in Foreign Affairs - an opportunity to take stock of where the country stands, how much damage has been done, and what might come next.
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Where Are Aou Going, America?Where Are Aou Going, America?
At the start of 2026, America is no longer a democracy. That doesn’t mean authoritarianism has won. But merely restoring the pre-Trump status quo won’t work. The country needs a democratic transformation.
My new piece:
https://steady.page/en/democracyamericana/posts/b8cd6881-e3c4-49b1-996c-cb25f6ec18bf