How Donald Trump Could Set The US Down A Path Toward Illiberalism, And What You Can Do About It

In this piece for The Atlantic, David Frum imagines how the US would be in 2021, during President Donald Trump's second term.

He then comes back to reality to say that all that can be stopped if citizens and officials make the right choices. The future is not written, and success will depend on the path taken.

Worldwide, democracy is in recession. Today many states face populist and authoritarian leaders alike: Hungary, Venezuela, South Africa, Philippines, Turkey... The transition has been non-violent, and the leaders have been democratically elected, but still, opponents are harassed, even imprisoned sometimes.

“The benefit of controlling a modern state is less the power to persecute the innocent, more the power to protect the guilty.” –  Anonymous observer

A comparable transformation, Frum argues, has recently begun in Poland and could come to France should Marine Le Pen win.

The article claims that the new rules of the 21st century are not motivated by deranged idealism, rather by greed. "What is spreading today is repressive kleptocracy," Frum says.

Despite the US being a very robust democracy, no human contrivance is tamper-proof, and the US system has vulnerabilities too. Trump's administration has proved it.

"If this were happening in Honduras, we’d know what to call it. It’s happening here instead, and so we are baffled." – David Frum

It's a fascinating piece at a time when populists are taking office in (what used to be) strong democracies, without resistance.

"The United States may be a nation of laws, but the proper functioning of the law depends upon the competence and integrity of those charged with executing it." – David Frum

Critics, the media and US citizens play a crucial role in ensuring accountability more than ever.

The question, Frum says, is not: What will Donald Trump do?, but rather:

What will you do?