so you want a detailed answer? Your wish is my command. Tell me, which of these 10 points, Trump has not used:
1. Extend executive power
The
mainstay of today’s authoritarianism is strengthening your power while simultaneously
weakening government institutions, such as parliaments and judiciaries, that provide checks and balances.
The key is to use legal means that
ultimately give democratic legitimacy to the power grab. Extreme forms of this include abolishing presidential term limits, which was done
in China; and regressive constitutional reforms to expand presidential power, like
in Turkey.
2. Repress dissent and citizen efforts to hold government accountable
Restrictions on funding and other bureaucratic limitations silence the ability of the people to hold accountable those in power. More than 50 countries have passed laws that stifle citizen groups.
Democracies have also jumped on this bandwagon. Limitations on permits for public protest, detention of protesters and
excessive use of force to break up demonstrations are frequently used tools.
3. Capture elite support and, when needed, demonize them too
Economic growth and prosperity are critical to retaining elite or oligarchical support for autocratic leaders. Whether through state-owned businesses, media conglomerates or more sophisticated connections between governments and free-market corporations, money and politics, translated into
government favors for the rich, can be a toxic mix for democracy.
Ironically, popular distaste with elite corruption is so high that modern autocratic populists, such as President Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, have even risen to power
on anti-corruption promises.
4. Appeal to populism and nationalism
Most would-be autocratic leaders today
exploit existing tensions within complex societies in order to solidify their support.
In many places, fears of migrants and refugees have
fueled resurgent nationalism, driving policies like U.K.’s Brexit. In India, religiously based nationalism has maintained the power of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Blaming external forces for a country’s problems, such as Hungarian leader
Viktor Orban’s demonization of George Soros, a Hungarian-born philanthropist who supports democracy-building, is also common.
5. Control information at home; misinform abroad
While propaganda and state-owned media is not new,
control of modern technology and information has become a key battleground.
China has developed sophisticated technologies to
censor and prevent the circulation of unwanted information and to
track individuals in society.
Russia is at the vanguard of state media control at home while
generating misinformation abroad. Many smaller countries have used
internet blackouts to block organizing and communicating by social movements.
6. Cripple the opposition
Damaging the opposition parties, while not completely destroying them, is now essential. Infiltrating parties, co-opting members and using pure scare tactics are some possible actions in the autocrat’s playbook. This serves the purpose of retaining a target for pseudo-political competition while also stymieing the potential for new, more democratic forces to gain traction.
7. Covert election manipulation
Mostly gone are the days of vote-rigging and vote-buying as a path to power. Would-be autocrats have found cleverer ways to tilt the playing field in their favor. These new tactics include hampering media access, gerrymandering,
changing election and voter eligibility rules and
placing allies on electoral commissions.
8. Play the emergency card
Some autocratic leaders continue to use traditional strong-arm tactics, like declaring states of emergency, to enable further repression.
Since 2001,
using the threat of terrorism or organized crime has played well for furthering autocratic rule. President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, which seems to have resulted
in thousands dead in the Philippines, is one illustration.
Since an attempted coup in 2016 up until 2018, for example, Turkey was under a state of emergency which enabled President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to jail and persecute academics, government officials, media
and human rights advocates.
9. Extend your model and influence
Today’s autocratic rulers are not keeping to themselves.
Using the international stage and their growing economic prowess, countries like China are
spreading their influence through funding initiatives such as the
Belt and Road to build infrastructure across
Asia to Europe. They’re hiring professional consultants
to advise and lobby foreign capitals for policies that reinforce their power.
10. Learn and share
Characterized as “
autocratic learning” by scholars, national authorities from Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, Belarus, Syria and other places are developing and
exchanging models for containing threats of
social movements and the so-called “color revolutions.”
www.nbcnews.com
