Saving Democracy From Democrats
Does American democracy remain fundamentally the same, or has it changed beyond recognition?
King Theseus of Athens, the mythical Greek hero, is celebrated for slaying the Minotaur, rescuing children doomed to sacrifice, and sailing his way back home aboard a legendary ship. To commemorate this feat, Athenians preserved his ship for generations, each year reenacting Theseus’ journey as a symbol of their polis' continuity and endurance.
Over time, to maintain the ship’s functionality and seaworthiness, Athenians replaced its rotting planks one by one, hoping each new piece would keep Theseus’ spirit alive—and perhaps even make it stronger.
But each renovation raised an unsettling question: After enough parts were swapped out, would it reach a point where the ship they preserved was no longer the Ship of Theseus? Some argued it would always remain the same ship; others insisted it had become something else entirely.
Much like the Athenians, Americans have their own Ship of Theseus, setting sail every few years as a symbol of the nation’s continuity and endurance, when the world’s longest-standing democracy heads to the polls. Through civil and world wars, pandemics, and financial crises, it has sailed on, battered but seemingly intact—and, more often than not, emerging stronger.
With every election cycle, as the country rigs new sails and replaces old timbers, we are left to wonder whether American democracy remains fundamentally the same or has turned into something unrecognizable—a question that feels particularly pressing after the events of the 2024 cycle.
Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, known for their 2018 best-seller How Democracies Die, recently discussed this issue in an interview with the liberal magazine The New Republic. Their diagnosis is surgically precise, though the surgery in question might well be a lobotomy.
Rest assured, Ziblatt isn’t worried about Republicans rewriting the Constitution anytime soon, as he figures it “works pretty well for the party that’s in control.” Instead, he’s troubled by how a new administration might leverage institutions to target the opposition and undermine civil society. Fair enough: Most Americans would agree that the rule of law, free markets, and the protection of civil liberties are the hull, mast, and rudder of America’s democratic ship.
Levitsky, meanwhile, acknowledges that “most of us haven’t experienced authoritarianism in the United States,” not even during Trump’s first term—no dissolution of the Constitution, no jailing of opponents, no canceled elections. Perhaps we were just lucky last time. But what about now? He deems it “very, very unlikely” such things will happen, only to caution, almost in the same breath, that they might.
He argues that voters don’t “vote for democracy.” The notion that American citizens themselves can be trusted to defend democracy is “idealized,” he scoffs, echoing the infamous 2023 New York Times headline—“Elections Are Bad for Democracy”—which the paper later retracted.
And he may have a point. Elections can feel irrational and counterproductive when they feature crooks on the ballot, complacent voters at the polls, and, most of the time, outcomes nobody likes. However, Levitsky’s main concern isn’t so much the inherent flaws of the electoral process as it is about preserving the power of those behind it. To him, whether we like it or not, “democracies are defended by elites.” And, as outlined in his book, “political parties are democracy’s gatekeepers.” They decide which rotting planks to keep and which to replace.
In How Democracies Die, Ziblatt and Levitsky explain how would-be authoritarians play this game: They capture referees, sideline key opponents, and rewrite the rules. That means stacking key agencies with loyalists, politicizing the system, then wielding it against rivals. As Ziblatt notes in the interview, even “opening an investigation, whether it’s by the Justice Department or the IRS, can send a message to people to keep their heads down.”
The goal, they argue, is to force every political actor and civic group to reassess the cost-benefit of speaking out. Ziblatt even suggests that “when you don’t see the media reporting on things,” it is a sign this strategy is working.
At this point, you might wonder if they missed the four indictments against Donald Trump—brought forward by politically motivated prosecutors—or the entire Hunter Biden laptop saga. In his defense, Ziblatt argues that “in many ways, these investigations and efforts to intimidate will be hard to detect.”
Now, consider the irony: They are fully engaged in a crusade to protect democracy from the unwashed masses, constantly warning that authoritarians might prosecute a “handful” of “exemplary cases” as a dark harbinger to “thousands and thousands” that engaging in politics is a fool’s errand. Yet, they deliberately overlook the relentless persecution of dozens of pro-life activists by Biden’s Department of Justice, which wields the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act as though it is using their seminal book on how democracies die as an instruction manual.
I’ll concede that their analysis is sharp, but their partisanship dulls its edge. Ultimately, they discard their insights to embrace an elitist version of democracy—really, more like an oligarchy—presiding over an imagined standoff against a populist autocracy, which is simply a construct of their bias and contempt for ordinary people. There, they find themselves championing a reactionary movement that yearns, with almost nostalgic longing, for top-down control, embodying the maxim from French author Georges Bernanos: “Democracy is not the opposite of dictatorship; it is the cause of dictatorship.”
Between Levitsky and Ziblatt’s open contempt for the people and the Democrats’ use of their playbook on authoritarian tactics, it becomes clear that something destructive is brewing: a cohesive plan to sabotage the democratic ship. Republicans shouldn’t rest easy just because they have the helm right now. The ship itself keeps changing beneath their feet, as elites rock the boat to gauge the public’s reaction and then regroup for the next maneuver.
Philosopher Thomas Hobbes offered an approach to the Ship of Theseus paradox that could provide useful advice here: First, imagine a version of the ship where the rotting planks are discarded, yet the ship’s “form” remains intact in spirit. Then, imagine another version, built from the discarded wood collected by a group of custodians, preserving the original “substance” of the ship, albeit in a decayed body.
We must beware of becoming mere custodians of old scraps, preserving the cast-off lumber while allowing the “form” to slip away. To truly defend democracy, we need more than just winning elections—we must uphold our founding principles and rescue them from decay. To borrow from Hobbes once more: Just as man is a wolf to man, so too is a democrat a wolf to democracy—always on the prowl, always hungry for more.
In Leviathan, Hobbes spelled out the unwashed's plight in giving up their freedoms and even their lives, sometimes in return for the protection of a government.
Therefore, one under the government's thumb must blindly assume (or hope) that said government operates in their best interests.
It seems, however, that the government of late is not about what is right or how it should be, but about how it is, as Machiavelli advised The Prince. It is about backstabbing and conniving in smoke-filled rooms.
... Corrupt politicians, devious law enforcement agencies, and a Justice Department delivering anything but justice.
We will see what comes up with Trump at the helm, but it will be hard to outdo the Dems in venomous chicanery.
My stock response. If you have seen it before I’m sorry, if not enjoy.
After the election the Democratic Party (my party) must rethink many of its policies as it ponders its future.
To be entrusted with power again Democrats must start listening to the concerns of the working class for a change. As a lifelong moderate Democrat I share their disdain for many of the insane positions advocated by my party. We are no longer the patriotic, sensible party of FDR and JFK.
Democrat politicians defy biology by believing that men can actually become women and belong in women’s sports, rest rooms, locker rooms and prisons and that gay kids should be mutilated in pursuit of the impossible.
They believe borders should be open to millions of illegals which undermines workers’ wages and the affordability of housing when we can’t house our own citizens.
They discriminate against whites, Asians and men in a futile effort to counter past discrimination against others and undermine our economy by abandoning merit selection of students and employees.
Democratic mayors allow homelessness to destroy our beautiful cities because they won't say no to destructive behavior. No, you can’t camp in our city. No, you can’t shit in our streets. No, you can’t shoot up and leave your used needles everywhere. Many of our prosecutors will not take action against shoplifting unless a $1000 of goods are stolen leading to gangs destroying retail stores. They release criminals without bail to commit more crimes.
The average voter knows this is happening and outright reject our party. Enough.