September 23, 2024<\/p>\n
5 min read<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Meet the New Autocrats Who Dismantle Democracies from Within<\/p>\n
The new interconnected breed of autocrats gains and retains power by deception, globally undermining democracies through their own institutions<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
By Cecilia Menj\u00edvar<\/a> & Deisy Del Real<\/a><\/p>\n Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, spoke during the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Dylan Hollingsworth\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n An autocratic wave has crept up on us in the U.S. and over the world in the last decade. Democracy and autocracy were once seen as two separate and distant worlds with little in common, and that the triumph of one weakened the other. Now, however, autocrats<\/a> across the globe, in poor and wealthy nations, in established and nascent democracies, and from the right and left, are using the same tactics to dismantle democracies from within.<\/p>\n As of 2021, of the 104 countries classified as democracies worldwide, 37 had experienced<\/a> moderate to severe deterioration in key elements<\/a> of democracy, such as open and free elections<\/a>, fundamental rights and liberties<\/a>, civic engagement<\/a>, the rule of law<\/a>, and checks-and-balances between government<\/a> branches. This democratic backsliding wave has accelerated since 2016 and infiltrated all corners of the world.<\/p>\n With the upcoming U.S. presidential election in November, questions about the future of American democracy take on urgency<\/a>. As the American public seems increasingly receptive to autocratic<\/a> tactics, these questions become even more pressing. Will the U.S. slide into autocracy, faced with a presidential candidate in Donald Trump who promises to be a dictator on his first day<\/a> in office? Can lessons from autocracies elsewhere help us detect democratic backsliding in the U.S.?<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing<\/a>. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n To answer these questions, we first need to identify how the new breed of autocrats attains and retains power: their hallmark strategy is deception. How does a roll call of modern autocrats, and wannabe autocrats, like Hungary\u2019s Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/a>, Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin, El Salvador\u2019s Nayib Bukele, India\u2019s Narendra Modi, Turkey\u2019s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Venezuela\u2019s Nicol\u00e1s Maduro implement this modus operandi for the latest model of autocracy? They twist information and create confusion within a fa\u00e7ade of democracy as they seize power. They do not overthrow democracy through military coups d’\u00e9tat but by undoing core democratic principles, weakening the rule of law, and eliminating checks and balances between branches of government.<\/p>\n Rather than eradicating democratic institutions as leaders like Chile\u2019s Augusto Pinochet<\/a> or Zaire\u2019s Mobutu<\/a> Sese Seko did in the past, today\u2019s established and emergent autocrats (as is the case of Maduro or Orb\u00e1n, for instance) corrupt the courts, sabotage elections and distort information to attain and remain in power. They are elected through ostensibly free elections and connect with a public already primed to be fearful of a fabricated enemy. Critically, they use these democratic tools to attain power; once there, they dismantle those processes. Autocratic tactics creep into the political life of a country slowly and embed themselves deeply in the democratic apparatus they corrupt. Modern autocracy, one may say, is a tyranny of gaslighting.<\/p>\n We gathered a group of scholars who have looked at successful and failed autocracies worldwide in a special issue<\/a> of the American Behavioral Scientist,<\/i> to identify common denominators of autocratic rulers worldwide. This research shows that modern autocrats uniformly apply key building blocks to cement their illiberal agenda and undermine democracies before taking them over. Those include manipulating the legal system<\/a>, rewriting electoral laws and constitutions<\/a>, and dividing the population into \u201cus\u201d versus \u201cthem\u201d blocs. Autocrats routinely present themselves as the only presumed savior<\/a> of the country while silencing, criminalizing and disparaging critics<\/a> or any oppositional voice<\/a>. They distort information and fabricate \u201cfacts\u201d<\/a> through the media<\/a>, claim fraud<\/a> if they lose an election, persuade the population that they can \u201ccleanse\u201d the country<\/a> of crime and, finally, empower a repressive nationalistic diaspora<\/a> and fund satellite political<\/a> movements and hate groups<\/a> that amplify the autocrats\u2019 illiberal agenda to distort democracy<\/a>.<\/p>\n In February, Bukele, the popular Salvadoran autocrat and self-described \u201cworld\u2019s coolest dictator<\/a>,\u201d spoke at the 2024 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an annual convention for U.S. right-wing elected officials and activists. There he received a standing ovation after he flaunted his crackdown on crime in his country and suggested the U.S. should follow his tactics. His speech<\/a> demonstrates how, regardless of political history and ideology, or their nation\u2019s wealth and place on the global stage, autocrats today deploy a similar \u201ctoolbox of tricks\u201d aimed at legalizing their rule<\/a>. That\u2019s because they copy from one another and learn from one another\u2019s successes and failures<\/a>. Vast interconnected networks enable autocrats to cooperate, share strategies and know-how, and visit one another<\/a> in public shows of friendship<\/a> and solidarity to create an international united front<\/a>. Just ask Orb\u00e1n, the Hungarian prime minister and autocrat, who received a warm reception when he spoke at the CPAC in 2022, reminding the crowd of the reason for his visit: \u201cI\u2019m here to tell you that we should unite our forces<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Global networks of autocratic regimes also provide economic resources to other autocrats and invest in their economies, share security<\/a> services to squash popular dissent, and sometimes interfere<\/a> in each other\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n Modern autocrats do not act alone; their connections with one another are complemented and sustained by a varied cadre<\/a> of legal specialists, political strategists and academics who tend to be economically secure, well-educated and cosmopolitan<\/a>. These individuals, like Michael Anton and those tied to the Trump-defending Claremont Institute, the over 400 scholars and policy experts who collaborated on Project 2025<\/a>\u2014 the extreme-right game plan for a Trump presidency\u2014and Stephen K. Bannon<\/a>, who called for the \u201cdeconstruction of the<\/a> administrative state\u201d by filling government jobs with partisans and loyalists, move in and out of government positions and the limelight. They are nimble and, moreover, fundamental to the autocrats\u2019 strategies, as they create videos and podcasts<\/a> and write books<\/a> to fabricate good images of the autocrats, write detailed blueprints<\/a> for an autocratic form of government, and consult aspiring autocrats<\/a> on best practices.<\/p>\n Evidence indicates that we are in a critical moment in U.S. democracy. Will the U.S. inevitably descend into autocracy<\/a>? No, not with an alert and well-informed electorate. Recognizing the strategies that autocrats use and share, veiled behind a fa\u00e7ade of democratic elections and wrapped in fearmongering, equips us to understand the harmful consequences of these strategies for democracy, and perhaps to stop the wave in time.<\/p>\n Juan Sebasti\u00e1n Chamorro, a Nicaraguan opposition politician and prospective presidential candidate, was accused of treason, arrested and banished<\/a> simply for running as an opposition candidate by the regime of President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo (who is also first lady). In exile, Chamorro has described a danger countries face<\/a>: autocrats who come to power through democratic systems are \u201clike a silent disease\u2014the early symptoms of this silent disease are usually dismissed, but once it begins to consume the body, it is usually too late to stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of <\/i>Scientific American.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Viktor](\"https:\/\/static.scientificamerican.com\/dam\/m\/6504d9e57b5362a0\/original\/viktor_orban_cpac.jpg?w=600\")
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