Demonstrators protest against recent legislative measures introduced by the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest's Heroes square on Jan. 5, 2019.Photographer: Laszlo Balogh/Getty Images
Some MAGA Republicans now show a preference for illiberal democracy or authoritarianism. An illiberal democracy is a governing system in which the ruling elite allows their citizens to vote but denies them the information or rights needed to exercise the right to vote effectively. Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, who describes Hungary as an illiberal democracy, won his last election by about 18 percentage points, giving his party a two-thirds majority. Orban's opponent partly attributed his loss to his inability to access media. Unsurprisingly, many MAGA Republicans who prefer an illiberal democracy also admire Orban. Those MAGA Republicans who want the U.S. to become an illiberal democracy are silent about what aspects of an illiberal democracy they favor. They favor a white Christian nation with no homosexuality, although they do not say how they intend to make that happen. But they do not say what other aspects of an illiberal democracy they favor or are willing to accept.
We can only speculate what an illiberal U.S. democracy would look like. Fascist Italy or Germany in the thirties, Eastern Europe today, including Hungary, or the authoritarian U.S. South in the twenties or thirties do not provide a realistic picture of an illiberal U.S. The U.S. is too different. But we do have the policies that libertarians like the Kochs and their far-right donor networks have advocated and actions Trump either implemented, tried to implement, or said he favored.
The areas in which we can expect are as follow:
Many MAGA Republicans support and would dispute the elimination or curtailment of many of these rights. For example, MAGA Republicans certainly support gun rights. But if Trump and his clan should become leaders of a perpetual ruling party, would that party support all citizens' access to guns? Similarly, MAGA Republicans now favor free speech, but in an illiberal democracy run by MAGA Republicans, I suspect their view of this and many other rights would change.
We can only speculate what an illiberal U.S. democracy would look like. Fascist Italy or Germany in the thirties, Eastern Europe today, including Hungary, or the authoritarian U.S. South in the twenties or thirties do not provide a realistic picture of an illiberal U.S. The U.S. is too different. But we do have the policies that libertarians like the Kochs and their far-right donor networks have advocated and actions Trump either implemented, tried to implement, or said he favored.
The areas in which we can expect are as follow:
- Privatization of the commons, such as public schools, transportation, and some of the protections afforded by government agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Drug Administration;
- Elimination of federal government protections from both other government entities and private corporations, such as pollution, workplace dangers, financial dangers, and drugs;
- Elimination of privacy rights, such as the right to an abortion, contraceptives, interracial marriage, and same-sex marriage;
- Elimination or curtailment of freedoms of the press, speech, and assembly;
- Elimination or curtail gun rights;
- Elimination of safety net protections, such as Medicare, Social Security, right to unionize, and minimize wages;
- Creation of obstacles for opposition parties and candidates, such as politicization of media regulation and sale of media outlets; and
- Removal of the fair and equal protection of government such as judicial appointments, career bureaucrats, armed forces leadership, law enforcement including DOJ, court orders, and pardons.
Many MAGA Republicans support and would dispute the elimination or curtailment of many of these rights. For example, MAGA Republicans certainly support gun rights. But if Trump and his clan should become leaders of a perpetual ruling party, would that party support all citizens' access to guns? Similarly, MAGA Republicans now favor free speech, but in an illiberal democracy run by MAGA Republicans, I suspect their view of this and many other rights would change.