authoritarianism

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  9/16/2020
  

  Where Conspiracy Reigns

  Historians Rodrigo Patto Sá Motta and Federico Finchelstein offer insight into how the political right has used rumors of communist plots to maintain power in Brazil, and why the country's political culture today is vulnerable to fake news and conspiracy theories. 

• 
• SOURCE: Medium
  9/15/2020
  

  Trump’s Brownshirt and Incitement to violence: A view from History

  by Waitman Beorn

  Donald Trump's public approval of right-wing militia activity in an election year resembles the way that Adolf Hitler pursued power through electoral channels while applying selective political violence to left-wing opponents. 

• 
• SOURCE: National Security Archive
  9/11/2020
  

  "GUILTY": Justice for the Jesuits in El Salvador

  Applying the doctrine of Universal Jurisdiction for human rights abuses, a Spanish Court found former El Salvador Colonel Inocente Orlando Montano guilty in the assassination of six Jesuit priests and two Salvadoran women in 1989. The National Security Archive supplied hundreds of declassified documents as evidence. 

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  9/6/2020
  

  Fascism Scholar Says U.S. Is 'Losing Its Democratic Status'

  Political theorist Jason Stanley discusses where the United States today fits into his definitions of fascism. Trump's claims to personally protect Americans from humiliation, the rise of conspiratorial thinking, and the fragility of democratic processes are not encouraging signs.

• 
• SOURCE: Jacobin
  9/8/2020
  

  Centrists Are Pining for a Golden Age that Never Was (Review)

  A review of Anne Applebaum's "Twilight of Democracy" argues that the author focuses on the role of nostalgia and personality in driving authoritarianism and breaking up the center-right coalition, but ignores the fact that that the center failed to deliver an improved standard of living to the broad public. 

• 
• 9/6/2020
  

  A Coup of "Clerqs"?: Anne Applebaum's "Twilight of Democracy" Reviewed

  by David O'Connor

  Anne Applebaum's new book looks with concern at the rise of right-wing populism in Europe and the loyal party functionaries who enable its march. 

• 
• SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
  9/4/2020
  

  I Danced in the Streets after Allende’s Victory in Chile 50 Years Ago. Now I See its Lessons for Today

  by Ariel Dorfman

  The Chilean author Ariel Dorfman warns that while his country elected a democratic socialist in a landmark election, it was unprepared to deal with violent and ruthless efforts to maintain the status quo. Joe Biden is no socialist, but if he wins, his administration and Americans at large must be similarly prepared. 

• 
• SOURCE: Made By History at The Washington Post
  9/1/2020
  

  No, America Is Not Succumbing To Fascism

  by Helmut Walser Smith

  A historian of 20th century Germany says the stark political divisions on display in America today are cause for optimism; four years into Hitler's rule, German society had been molded into conformity with Nazi ideals without room for dissent. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  9/1/2020
  

  Donald Trump’s Incitements to Violence Have Crossed an Alarming Threshold

  Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat argues that Trump's seeming endorsement of militia and other armed citizen groups is a dangerous step toward the establishment of paramilitary groups that occurred under Mussolini in fascist Italy. 

• 
• SOURCE: Times of Israel
  8/27/2020
  

  Rise of European Populists Today Echoes Dark Dreyfus Era, Jewish Historian Warns

  In new book ‘Twilight of Democracy,’ Anne Applebaum describes how her former friends helped bring about the Trump era, Brexit, and authoritarian governments in Poland and Hungary.

• 
• SOURCE: Brennan Center
  8/20/2020
  

  Martial Law in the United States: Its Meaning, Its History, and Why the President Can’t Declare It

  A report from the Brennan Center concludes that martial law is poorly defined in American law, but the President lacks the authority to declare it unilaterally.

• 
• 8/23/2020
  

  Could Trump Overturn American Democracy?

  by Richard Striner

  It might be time to consider how a desperate Donald Trump might execute a fascist putsch, just in case, argues Richard Striner. 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Review of Books
  8/12/2020
  

  Co-opt & Corrupt: How Trump Bent and Broke the GOP

  by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

  The Republican Party, and the robust media universe that supports it, had been ready for a far-right, rule-breaking, and polarizing personality like Trump.

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  7/28/2020
  

  Violence In Portland Exposes The Real Purpose Embedded In Law Enforcement

  by Amrita Chakrabarti Myers

  Policing in America traces its roots back to the institution of the slave patrol.

• 
• SOURCE: The Hill
  7/22/2020
  

  Federal Agents in Portland Set a Dangerous Precedent

  by Tom Mockaitis

  The sight of armed men in combat fatigues without name tags driving around in unmarked vehicles to detain protestors might have been expected in Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, or the Latin American dictatorships of the 1970s. Such tactics have no place on the streets of an American city in 2020.

• 
• SOURCE: The New Republic
  7/21/2020
  

  Trump Has Brought America’s Dirty Wars Home

  by Stuart Schrader

  The history of the Office of Public Safety, created to support counterinsurgency around the globe during the Cold War, demonstrates that Trump’s ardor for authoritarian force has long-standing, homegrown roots.

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Monthly
  7/18/2020
  

  Could Trump Use DHS to Suppress Voting?

  Trump's ordering of DHS personnel to arrest protesters in Portland should be seen in light of the expiration of a critical 1982 consent decree under which the Republican National Committee has agreed not to deploy law enforcement officers to polling stations. That conduct will no longer be barred in 2020.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Review of Books
  7/2/2020
  

  Our First Authoritarian Crackdown (Review)

  by Brenda Wineapple

  Wendell Bird argues that the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 were used more broadly than historians have recognized, and reflect a shakier foundation of free speech in the early Republic. 

• 
• SOURCE: ProPublica
  6/9/2020
  

  The Police Have Been Spying on Black Reporters and Activists for Years. I Know Because I’m One of Them.

  by Wendi C. Thomas

  Wendi C. Thomas is a black journalist who has covered police in Memphis. One officer admitted to spying on her. She’s on a long list of prominent black journalists and activists who have been subjected to police surveillance over decades.

• 
• 5/24/2020
  

  No More Business as Usual! It’s Time for Joe Biden to Defend our Democracy

  by Claudia Koonz

  A historian of European dictatorship argues that Joe Biden must recognize that not just the election but the health of democracy is at stake and challenge the administration's efforts to operate above the law.