Democracy Americana

Why the Extremists Took Over on the Right

Fear of a pluralizing America is fueling a radicalization out of a sense of weakness and besiegement

Aug 7 • 

Thomas Zimmer

353

60

July 2025

What Is America, and for Whom?

A white Christian ethno-state with strict hierarchies or a pluralistic democracy with egalitarian aspirations? American society has always been divided…

Jul 26 • 

Thomas Zimmer

298

52

May 2025

The American Government Sides with the Party of German Neo-Nazis

The MAGA-AfD alliance of extremists is not surprising, but it remains outrageous. If democracy is to prevail, America needs to establish a robust…

May 4 • 

Thomas Zimmer

200

25

April 2025

How the Republic Falls

Constitutional protections suspended. The government purging “alien enemies” and the “enemy within.” Three months into Trumpist rule, despotism is…

Apr 20 • 

Thomas Zimmer

244

19

March 2025

What Authoritarianism Means

Even critical observers underestimated the speed and scope of the Trumpist assault, they overestimated democratic resilience. What is America now, and…

Mar 16 • 

Thomas Zimmer

484

65

February 2025

MAGA, the German Far Right, and the Transnational Assault on Democracy

A reflection on the German far right, Elon Musk’s interference in the German election, and why the MAGA-AfD alliance isn’t nearly as irresistible as…

Feb 25 • 

Thomas Zimmer

156

20

MAGA Feeding Frenzy Has Caused a Constitutional Crisis

The assault is coming from different angles: Project 2025. The feudal tech barons. The America First nativists. It’s not a single master plan – it’s…

Feb 5 • 

Thomas Zimmer

313

52

January 2025

Navigating the Nonsense and Propaganda of Clownish Authoritarianism

Ignoring what Trump says won’t work. Constant outrage is not a viable strategy either. We must find a more productive way to engage Trump’s dangerous…

Jan 8 • 

Thomas Zimmer

320

51

December 2024

The Modern Conservative Tradition and the Origins of Trumpism

Today’s Trumpist radicals are not (small-c) conservatives – but they stand in the continuity of Modern Conservatism’s defining political project

Dec 16, 2024 • 

Thomas Zimmer

183

16

November 2024

Meet the Ideologue of the “Post-Constitutional” Right

Russell Vought, one of the architects behind Project 2025, believes there is nothing left to conserve. He desires revolution – and to burn down the…

Nov 27, 2024 • 

Thomas Zimmer

346

80

Elite Acquiescence and Treacherous “Normalcy” All Around Us

What are the reasons behind the pervasive tendency among ostensibly anti-MAGA elites to accommodate authoritarian power and preemptively signal…

Nov 21, 2024 • 

Thomas Zimmer

204

42

Why the Second Trump Regime Will Be Far More Dangerous

This will be a much more radical regime – and it will operate under conditions that are vastly more favorable to its extremist cause

Nov 14, 2024 • 

Thomas Zimmer

185

33