Autocracy in America

Donald Trump has vowed to eliminate hundreds of workers across federal agencies if he becomes president again. Consolidating power and placing friends in key roles are textbook autocratic maneuvers, but they also are not new in the United States. This episode revisits the story of Louisiana Governor Huey Long, who sought to take over the apparatus of government in his state, just as illiberal lead...

In authoritarian states, the public has no agency and no real access to justice. Renée DiResta, a scholar who researches online information campaigns, struggled to counter false accusations leveled against her after a series of courts accepted them without investigation. As courts become more political, people could begin to assume justice is impossible. This is the second episode of Autocracy in...

The corruption of democracy begins with the corruption of thought—and with the deliberate undermining of reality. Stephen Richer, an election official in Arizona, and Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican congressman, learned firsthand how easily false stories and conspiracy theories could disorient their colleagues. They talk with hosts Anne Applebaum and Peter Pomerantsev about how conformism and...

There are authoritarian tactics already at work in the United States. To root them out, you have to know where to look. Autocracy in America is produced by The Atlantic and made possible with support from the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, an academic and public forum dedicated to strengthening global democracy through powerful civic engagement and informed, inclusive dialogue. L...