Among the defining characteristics of authoritarian regimes is the promotion of identity politics, where select groups are afforded privileges over others based on some intrinsic feature (like skin color), and the systematic censorship and suppression of dissenting speech, often accompanied by compelled speech.
There are lot of other signs. These regimes manipulate the rule of law, using legal mechanisms to imprison political opponents—a practice known as lawfare. They also infuse education with ideological content designed to disrupt common sense and establish a new social logic, while elites manufacture and impose culture and revise history to align with their agenda. In these regimes, justice and truth become subverted for partisan purposes; the administration of law, knowledge, and science become increasingly arbitrary and technocratic, serving the interests of those in power.
These regimes often disguise one-party rule with superficial appeals to democracy, extolling the virtues of the state while diminishing the autonomy of the individual, leading to a dependency on the government and the infantilization of the citizenry. They alienate and weaken the family structure, usurping its authority and exerting state control over children, while simultaneously ensuring subservience to oligopolistic interests.
Many Americans and others around the world have noticed that this description increasingly resembles the practices of today’s Democratic Party. We need to raise the alarm about this.
Apologists for the Democratic Party rationalize these measures as necessary to address systemic inequalities, promote social justice, and protect marginalized groups. But even if we accept the premise that systemic inequalities and social injustices exist, and that marginalized groups require protection, the censorship, identity politics, lawfare, and manipulation of education and culture that are evident in contemporary American politics cannot be justified in these terms. These tactics, emblematic of authoritarianism, are antithetical to the core principles of freedom and democracy. Freedom and democracy and the most precious things on earth—that and the courage to resist attempts to undermine them.
At the heart of a free society lies freedom of speech and expression—the right to voice opinions, ideas, and beliefs without fear of retribution or suppression. A true democracy fosters an open marketplace of ideas where diverse perspectives can be shared and debated freely. Likewise, the principles of individualism and universalism emphasize recognizing and treating people as autonomous persons rather than as members of specific identity groups. This approach upholds our common humanity and equality under the law, advocating for policies that transcend group identities and focus on individual rights and merit.
Similarly, the rule of law with impartial justice is foundational to a fair and moral society. It demands the equal application of the law, free from political manipulation; justice should be based on objective legal principles rather than partisan interests, ensuring that the legal system remains neutral. Furthermore, academic freedom, coupled with critical thinking, is essential to a healthy society. An education system that promotes critical analysis, open inquiry, and the pursuit of knowledge based on evidence and reason is crucial. Culture should evolve organically from the people rather than being imposed from above.
These principles—freedom of speech and expression, individualism and universalism, the rule of law with impartial justice, academic freedom, and cultural integrity—must never be sacrificed for the sake of party ideology. They are the bedrock of democratic republicanism and classical liberalism, principles that have long guided the American experiment.
And we cannot forget this: add to the mix I identified at the outset neoconservative warmongering. Rationalizing its belligerency as a mission to spread democracy, neoconservatives advocate for the use of force to achieve geopolitical objectives. What are those objectives? A one world order based on transnational corporate power. Neoconservative policies prioritize military solutions over diplomacy, neglect the consequences of regime change, and fuel perpetual conflict in the service of powerful elite. This, too, is an expression of the ideology that moves the Democratic Party.
The growing centralization of power and the drift towards authoritarian practices within the Democratic Party, which increasingly staffs and controls the apparatus of the state, should be the focus of concern for all who care about democratic republicanism and classical liberal principles. The party’s approach to politics and speech regulation, its alignment with corporate interests, and the erosion of individual autonomy through the influence of technocratic elites parallel those in more overtly authoritarian regimes—and neoconservative warmongering. If left unchecked, these developments threaten the very foundations of American democracy, eroding the freedoms that have long been its hallmark.
freedom and reason 