Authoritarianism is a government structure characterized by the concentration of power in a sole unit, which bypasses democratic processes and civilian input, in turn suppressing individual freedoms. Often observed in unstable countries, it seems unlikely that the United States would be tipping towards this governmental structure. Compared to Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, Mao’s China, and Franco’s Spain, the United States looks wildly democratic. 

Yet, according to independent experts at Authoritarian Warning Survey, on a scale of 1 (healthy democracy) to 5 (total dictatorship), the United States is rated a 3.4—almost a full score past the ‘midway’ point. Based on the index, this puts America in ‘severe threat’ status. The United States is not authoritarian, but recent actions by the Trump Administration provide evidence that democratic ideals are collapsing. 

Agreed upon by multiple experts, the United States has waved an impressive amount of red flags that denote the rise of an autocratic regime. According to The Commons: Social Change Library, authoritarian governments typically follow a ‘playbook’ that rejects democratic rules, denies legitimacy of opponents, tolerates/encourages political violence, restricts civil liberties of their opponents, and deconstructs social unity to create division. Scholars from the Horizons Project say that to achieve this regime, political figures will often spread lies, destroy checks and balances, utilize militia for domestic control, demonize opponents and media, undermine civil rights for ‘unaligned’ parties, scapegoat ‘outsiders’ for national issues, and fear-monger. Ironically, researchers have identified several of these warning signs in the Trump Administration’s actions and governance. 

Recently, the Trump Administration orchestrated military operations in Venezuela’s capital city under charges of cocaine trafficking, removing Venezuela’s current autocratic leader, President Nicolás Maduro. PBS reported that these military actions arose following the US government’s attack of vessels off the Venezuelan Coast, with claims to stop drug smuggling. Despite the successful operation, President Trump’s approach to this attack was largely unlawful. 

Similar executive overreach began in Venezuela with unilateral action that bypassed congressional approval. Likewise, the American Friends Service Committee provides evidence that Trump launched this attack on drugs without authorization from Congress. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 necessitates that the president receive this approval before involving the country into international armed conflict. The Constitution clearly states that Congress has the sole power to authorize war. Therefore, Trump’s unilateral action blatantly rejected democratic rules.

Not only does this assertion of unilateral executive control defy checks and balances, but it also parallels historic fascism, according to Ruth Ben-Ghiat, professor of history at New York University. For example, following the Reichstag Fire, the 1933 Enabling Act allowed Hitler to enact policy without the parliament, effectively dissipating the legislature. Although the Trump Administration has not taken the bold move to completely dismantle the legislature, it has progressed towards weakening Congressional and Judicial powers. 

The Trump Administration’s use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enforce immigration policies exemplifies military use for domestic control and the vilifying of ‘outsiders’. Accordingly, this has contributed to the increasing polarization of America. Writers from the The Conversation claim that ICE parallels the ‘secret police’ characteristic to Nazi Germany and Syria, both authoritarian regimes. ICE targets dissidents, employing similar tactics for the capture and deportation of individuals “whose presence has ‘adverse foreign policy consequences’ for the country.”

Asserting control over citizens, ICE has conducted searches within elementary schools under false pretenses, and detained United States citizens with limited transparency. With the capture of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil by ICE on March 8th, The Conversation’s legal scholars say that the government may be retaliating against those who exercise their first amendment rights.

However, the presence of ICE is still under heavy restrictions from Congress. The Trump Administration has justified the presence of ICE, according to NBC News, under the pretense necessary and difficult work in dangerous circumstances to advance the anti-illegal immigration initiative. 

What began with President Trump’s inaccurate rhetoric, documented by a 2025 BBC report, about Haitian immigrants “eating the dogs…eating the cats. They’re eating – they are eating the pets of the people that live there.” has evolved into an attack against immigrants, or any individual who appears foreign— ‘outsiders’. Scapegoating the diversity that characterizes America, The Guardian documented President Trump’s condemnation of immigrants as “illegal and disruptive populations…those that hate, steal, murder and destroy everything that America stands for” on TruthSocial. AP Newsroom cited Trump’s claim that the nation’s issues lie largely on immigrants and Democrats, who he criticized for “radical left political violence…has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives.” —not unlike Stalin’s fear-mongering campaign against the bourgeoisie for creating complications within the Soviet Union. 

Thankfully, the Trump Administration has not yet enacted anything like The Nuremberg Race Laws (1935). However, the American Civil Liberties Union claims that Trump’s executive order in April 2025, which directed federal agencies to reduce the use of the disparate impact standard, undermines a tool that challenges discriminatory barriers for marginalized communities to housing, jobs, and more. This implies that the Trump Administration is advancing on the progressive rights of minorities within the United States.

The authoritarian threat perceived by the Authoritarian Warning Survey is not unique to America. Poland’s democracy score has declined by over half between 2014 and 2023, more so than the United States. Although our change isn’t quite as drastic as Poland’s, there’s evidence that the tides of American democracy are shifting in the wrong direction. 

From the harmful effects of rhetoric to unprompted political violence, it’s becoming increasingly important to learn how this can, and will, impact our community. Democracies do not dissipate overnight, and there are still steps we can take to protect our civil rights. Whether the United States reverses this democratic backsliding or not is reliant on how we continue to critique the use of power and advocate for our rights.