Archive - Democracy Americana

Why the Stakes in this Election Are So Enormously High

Democracy itself is on the ballot. If Trump wins, the extreme Right will be in a much better position than ever before to abolish it

Nov 4 •

October 2024

It Could Definitely Happen Here

Many Americans struggle to accept that democracy is young, fragile, and could actually collapse – a lack of imagination that dangerously blunts the…

Oct 31 •

Donald Trump, American Fascist

Trumpism is what a specifically American, twenty-first century version of fascism looks like. And in November, fascism is on the ballot.

Oct 15 •

September 2024

How Project 2025 Became Toxic and Exposed the Right’s Toxicity

The public history of Project 2025 reveals a lot about how Trump understands power - and how the mainstream discourse (mis-) understands the extreme…

Sep 29 •

The Right is committed to an idea of America as a white Christian homeland. They are determined to purge the nation and radically redraw the boundaries…

Sep 18 •

Liz Cheney and the Problem of the Anti-Trump Republican

Republicans who hold the line against Trump deserve respect. But champions of egalitarian, pluralistic democracy they are not - and that also matters

Sep 9 •

August 2024

What is “weird” and what is “normal” in America?

Democrats are, finally, asserting their right to define the boundaries of normalcy – and their claim to be defending the nation’s true ideals against…

Aug 13 •

MAGA on the Beach Redux

On an encounter with enraged Trumpers - and the difficult road ahead for a society in which conspiracies, extremist iconography, and political violence…

Aug 3 •

July 2024

Kamala Harris May Force a Reckoning

Harris emerged as VP in the summer of 2020 when it seemed the country might finally deal with its defining demons. But as the reactionary…

Jul 23 •

Allies Against Democracy: Trump and Project 2025

Trump is not the mastermind behind Project 2025. It’s worse: The rightwing establishment has radicalized to the point where their plans are entirely in…

Jul 9 •

June 2024

The Origins of Trumpism and the Birth of the Present

Reflections on the pre-history of Trump’s rise, the peculiar nature of Trumpism, and the radical politics of white despair – based on John Ganz’s…

Jun 23 •

New Feature on Democracy Americana: Article Voiceovers

I am trying something new – an audio version of the newsletter essays, for those who prefer to listen rather than read

Jun 17 •

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