Authoritarianism doesn’t arrive in America with a marching band and a dictator’s salute. It comes in the gray areas, the emergencies, the exceptions to the rule. It shows up when powers meant to protect us are turned inward, when institutions bend to political will, and when dissent is met not with dialogue but with deployment.
Right now, in the United States, we are seeing too many of those warning signs.
Federal Deployment of Troops at Home
In Los Angeles this summer, immigration raids sparked protests across the city. Instead of relying on local law enforcement, the federal government deployed thousands of National Guard troops, Marines, ICE and other forces—despite state and local leaders making clear they had not requested them.
Critics warned that this blurred the lines between law enforcement and the military, militarizing civic dissent and setting a dangerous precedent for presidential overreach.
“When the military takes the place of police—especially against civilians exercising their right to protest—it chips away at the foundation of democratic governance.”
The same pattern repeated in Washington, D.C., when the White House declared a “Crime Emergency,” seizing control of the Metropolitan Police Department under the Home Rule Act.
Local and State Authority Undermined
American federalism is built on checks and balances, including the power of states and cities to govern themselves. Yet the Los Angeles deployment and D.C. takeover are vivid examples of federal encroachment on local authority.
California’s governor filed lawsuits to block the deployments. D.C.’s mayor called the federal intervention a dangerous abuse of the Home Rule Act.
Even if courts eventually side with the states, the precedent is already planted.
Attacks on Media and Speech
Authoritarian rule thrives when independent voices fall silent. We are already seeing troubling signs:
ABC suspended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after a political monologue, amid reports of pressure from FCC officials. While he was reinstated, Stephen Colbert’s program was also cancelled for “purely” for financial reasons. Yeah-Right.
President Trump threatening to take licenses from networks who oppose him.
Recent restrictions on how the press can cover the Pentagon and the US military.
If the media landscape narrows to what the government approves, dissent doesn’t need to be outlawed—it simply disappears.
Escalation of Violence and Threats
Authoritarian movements rarely rely on laws alone—they are fueled by intimidation. In recent months, we’ve seen a disturbing escalation of both violence and threats of violence: election workers harassed, journalists targeted, protesters beaten or arrested under militarized conditions. Most chilling are the political assassinations and assassination attempts that have shaken the nation, reminders that the leap from hateful rhetoric to deadly action is not hypothetical—it is already here. When leaders blur the line between dissent and criminality, casting critics as enemies to be silenced rather than citizens to be heard, they invite violence as a substitute for democracy. This creeping normalization of violence as a political tool doesn’t just endanger those on the front lines—it corrodes the entire democratic culture by teaching people that fear, not debate, is how power is won.
Courts Warning of “King-Like” Power
This week the Supreme Court has backed President Donald Trump’s power to fire the lone Democrat on the Federal Trade Commission without cause, agreeing at the same time to consider overturning a longstanding precedent that has protected independent agencies.
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor openly warns that the presidency risks becoming “like a king,” it is not hyperbole.
Legal scholars have raised similar concerns as federal deployments and emergency orders stretch constitutional limits.
Even when courts push back, the sheer frequency of challenges signals a growing stress test for our democracy.
Civil Society Under Pressure
International watchdogs like CIVICUS have placed the U.S. on their human rights watchlist for “sustained attacks on civil freedoms.” (See Below)
This includes censorship of journalists, threats to strip funding from public media, and intimidation directed at individuals and advocacy groups. Immigration protests, ICE raids, and arrests further reveal how dissenting communities are often the first to feel the heaviest hand of state power.
The Rhetorical Playbook
When leaders describe migrants as “invaders” or cities as “burning,” they are not simply exaggerating—they are constructing the justification for extraordinary powers.
Political scientists call this competitive authoritarianism: using laws and regulations not to protect democracy, but to selectively punish opponents.
Why Resistance Must Go Further
There is another side to this story: the resistance. Across the country, marches like “Hands Off!” “No Kings,” and “Good Trouble Lives On” have mobilized thousands. These moments matter—they show the world that people will not passively accept authoritarian drift.
But protest alone is not enough. History teaches us that democracy survives when people organize beyond the streets: building local institutions, creating independent media, training new leaders, and forging networks that can withstand political pressure.
Democracy isn’t defended in a single march—it’s sustained by long-term organizing, by communities standing together day after day.
That means supporting civic groups, defending educators and journalists, investing in grassroots organizing, and creating spaces where neighbors can connect outside of partisan filters. Authoritarian power grows when people feel isolated. Resistance grows when people feel connected.
If we want democracy to endure, our protests must be the spark—not the sum total—of our resistance.
The Creep, Not the Crash
America is not yet authoritarian. But the danger is not a single leap into dictatorship—it is the creep:
Troops on our streets without local consent.
TV hosts suspended after political jokes.
Increased violence.
Judges warning about kings.
Rights eroded under the banner of “emergency.”
Every democracy that has fallen followed this path. The question for us is whether we recognize the signs soon enough to stop the slide.
✍️ If you found this piece valuable, share it. Authoritarianism doesn’t spread by force alone—it spreads when people stop paying attention.
CIVICUS: US now on human rights watchlist for civil liberties
This is the authoritarian playbook: purge the principled, install the loyal, and weaponize prosecution to punish dissent. I’ve written extensively on how institutional incentives get rewired to reward obedience over law… this moment is a textbook example.
As a former Foreign Service Officer and professor of behavioral economics, I’ve seen how regimes abroad jail critics under the guise of national security. Now we’re watching the same machinery take shape here. If we don’t confront it now, it won’t stop… it could reach anyone.
— Johan
Professor of Behavioral Economics & Applied Cognitive Theory; Former Foreign Service Officer
Authoritarianism is what America is living under right now - because of tRump and all of his enablers.
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