Tag: “competitive authoritarianism”

First Amendment Phobia

Buck Banks


To get on the wrong side of the government, you had to be a bomb-throwing anarchist,
That was until Trump and his Cabinet conspired to be Constitutional denialists.
They’d rather rendition citizens on illegal flights
Than perpetuate the spirit of the Bill of Rights,
Now, if you stand chanting in a protest line holding a sign, you’re a “domestic terrorist.”

The Rise of ‘Competitive Authoritarianism’

Buck Banks

“The kind of authoritarianism I fear is emerging in the United States, which political scientists call ‘competitive authoritarianism,’ doesn’t involve the outright criminalization of the opposition or formal martial law. … Instead, it depends on perverting the law, modifying and twisting it with the intent of incrementally undermining the opposition’s ability to compete fairly in elections.”

— Zack Beauchamp