How These Steps Function in Practice:

Modern autocrats use "autocratic legalism"—using the law itself to dismantle the constitutional system.

It's all incremental normalization. Each step makes the next seem less shocking.

#Civics #Authoritarianism

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Case Study 4: United States 🇺🇸 (Oct 2025) Scholars note concerning patterns. Expert ratings place U.S. democracy closer to "illiberal" (like Israel, Mexico) than to peers (Canada, UK). Scholars have documented multiple steps from the playbook being deployed.

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Case Study 3: Turkey 🇹🇷 (Oct 2025) A critical inflection point. The March 2025 arrest of opposition Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu signals a move to full authoritarianism, building on the post-2016 purge of 4,000+ judges and thousands of police.

#Turkey #Erdogan

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Case Study 2: Poland 🇵🇱 (Oct 2025) Shows the challenge of recovery. A pro-democratic gov was elected in 2023, but "autocratic enclaves" remain. The new PiS-aligned president (June 2025) & embedded loyalists obstruct the restoration of democratic norms.

#Poland

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This isn't just theory. This playbook is being used globally.

Case Study 1: Hungary 🇭🇺 (Oct 2025) The textbook case. Since 2010, Viktor Orbán has systematically packed courts, rewritten the constitution, and manipulated electoral rules to entrench his Fidesz party.

#Hungary #Orban

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Step 10: Undermine Free and Fair Elections. The endgame. Use administrative suppression and erode trust to make people believe voting doesn't work, isn't safe, or doesn't matter.

#Elections #VoterSuppression

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Step 9: Incentivize Private Violence. Militarize agents, deploy forces vs. protesters. Make silence feel safer than civic participation.

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Step 7: Weaponize Scapegoating. Target DEI programs. Turn "different" groups into villains who supposedly threaten the majority.

Step 8: Target Civil Society. Sue lawyers, attack philanthropies, dismantle universities, and smear communities. Undermine anyone who checks power.

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Step 5: Install Loyalists. Place individuals loyal only to the executive, not the Constitution or the people, in key positions.

Step 6: Attack the Media. Discredit truth-tellers. Create propaganda echo chambers until lies sound like truth.

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Step 3: Weaken Competing Powers. Capture the judiciary with loyalists; make Congress complicit.

Step 4: Gut the Civil Service. Fire experts and dismantle agencies. The goal: break public trust and make people forget what functional government looks like.

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Step 1: Win an Election (with warning signs). The autocrat gains power democratically but has shown antidemocratic tendencies.

Step 2: Exceed Executive Power. Issue waves of executive orders, claiming unprecedented authority and ignoring legislature.