The Assault

Democracy in the United States is under assault. It is not a hidden assault -- it is right out in the open. And it neither started nor ended with the insurrection on Jan 6, 2021. 

Republican officials in charge of elections boast that next time there is a Presidential election, they will "find" votes for the Republican candidate - regardless of what voters do. And that's just the beginning.

• In more than 30 states, legislatures are making it more difficult to vote, specifically targeting progressive constituencies: people of color, students, city dwellers and low income people. 

• Legislative districts are designed to dilute Democratic votes. North Carolina, for example, where Democrats and Republicans each comprise about 50% of the electorate, elected 9 Republican Congresspeople and 4 Democrats --even though the Democrats received more votes statewide than the Republicans.

• Abuse of the filibuster allows Republican Senators representing just 17% of American voters the ability to stall almost all legislation that might fix these problems.

• The Supreme Court has gutted Campaign Finance Reform, so there are no limits on how much billionaires can give to tilt the scales of supposedly free elections.

And all of these just exacerbate the inequalities written into the Constitution that give small numbers of rural votes an outsize voice in the Senate, Presidential elections, and the Supreme Court. 

As Levitsky and Ziblatt wrote, "...by capturing the referees, intimidating opponents and re-writing rules, autocrats can create near permanent rule supposedly within the bounds of democracy."

At a time when the world is facing pandemic and climate crises that threaten all of us, our country is being turned into a helpless weakling -- incapable of taking even simple steps due to obstruction and abuse of our democratic systems.

We created these pages to chronicle the crisis, and suggest actions, and hopefully stem the tide of authoritarianism.