{"id":38629,"date":"2025-01-29T10:45:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T10:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=38629"},"modified":"2025-01-29T02:13:12","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T02:13:12","slug":"whats-behind-trumps-flurry-of-executive-action-4-essential-reads-on-autocrats-and-authoritarianism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/whats-behind-trumps-flurry-of-executive-action-4-essential-reads-on-autocrats-and-authoritarianism\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s behind Trump\u2019s flurry of executive action: 4 essential reads on autocrats and authoritarianism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jeff Inglis<\/a>, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you think a lot is happening in the federal government all at once on a lot of different issues, you\u2019re right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning of a new presidential administration, there is often a flurry of changes \u2013 new Cabinet appointments and a few executive orders. But what\u2019s happening right now in Washington, D.C. \u2013 actions affecting immigration<\/a>, tariffs<\/a>, the firing of career government workers<\/a>, gender identity<\/a>, federally funded research<\/a>, foreign aid<\/a> and even broader categories of federal spending<\/a> \u2013 is different from most presidential transitions, in volume, pace, content and breadth of the changes ordered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Administration officials and Trump allies have described all this action as a \u201cshock and awe<\/a>\u201d campaign intended to \u201cflood the zone<\/a>.\u201d Translation: It\u2019s both an effort to demonstrate autocratic power and an effort to overwhelm and exhaust people who might resist the changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Conversation U.S. has published several articles \u2013 many from Donald Trump\u2019s first term as president \u2013 that spell out how autocrats, and those who want to be autocrats, behave and why. Here are some key points to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Seize executive power<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The move toward autocracy starts with wielding unyielding power over not only people but democratic institutions, explained Shelley Inglis<\/a>, a scholar of international law at the University of Dayton. In a checklist of 10 items for wannabe authoritarians, the first task, she wrote, is being strong:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe mainstay of today\u2019s authoritarianism<\/a> 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.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2. Control political backers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When a leader\u2019s supporters are more loyal to the person than their political party, that creates what is called a \u201cpersonalist party,\u201d as scholars of political science Erica Frantz<\/a> at Michigan State University, Joe Wright<\/a> at Penn State and Andrea Kendall-Taylor<\/a> at Yale University described. That creates a danger to democracy, they wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c(W)hat matters for democracy<\/a> is not so much the ambitions of power-hungry leaders, but rather whether those in their support group will tame them. \u2026 (W)hen personalist ruling parties hold legislative majorities and the presidency \u2026 there is little that stands in the way of a grab for power.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Many Republican Party members back Trump, in part because other party leaders signal their own support. AP Photo\/Sue Ogrocki<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

3. Sideline the public<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a democracy, the public has power. But if the people choose not to exercise it, that leaves room for an authoritarian leader to take more control, warned Mark Satta<\/a>, a professor of philosophy and law at Wayne State University in an article comparing George Orwell\u2019s book \u201cNineteen eighty-four\u201d to modern events:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrump routinely speaks like an autocrat<\/a>. Yet many Americans excuse such talk, failing to treat it as the evidence of a threat to democracy that it is. This seems to me to be driven in part by the tendency Orwell identified to think that truly bad things won\u2019t happen \u2013 at least not in one\u2019s own country.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Donald Trump hugs an American flag as he arrives at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 24, 2024, in Baltimore. Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4. Depend on complacency<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Another scholar delivered a warning of a possible future. Vickie Sullivan<\/a>, a political science scholar at Tufts University, studies Renaissance writer Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli, who lived from 1469 to 1527.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is perhaps most widely known for encouraging \u201csole rulers<\/a> \u2013 his phrase for authoritarians or dictators \u2013 \u2026 to use force and fraud to gain and maintain power,\u201d she wrote. But Machiavelli had advice for the public, too, Sullivan explained:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe instructs republican citizens and leaders \u2026 to recognize how vulnerable the governments they cherish are and to be vigilant against the threats of tyranny. \u2026 If republican citizens and leaders fail to be vigilant, they will eventually be confronted with a leader who has accumulated an extremely powerful and threatening following. At that point, Machiavelli says, it will be too late to save the republic.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation\u2019s archives.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Inglis<\/a>, Politics + Society Editor, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeff Inglis, The Conversation If you think a lot is happening in the federal government all at once on a lot of different issues, you\u2019re right. At the beginning of a new presidential administration, there is often a flurry of changes \u2013 new Cabinet appointments and a few executive orders. But what\u2019s happening right now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":38630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15534,8025,115,46,295,296,4,15533,38],"tags":[2000,7731,473,479,2275,3738,885,891,886,860,15972,15971,13230],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38629"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38629"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38631,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38629\/revisions\/38631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}