The GOP’s ‘Off the Rails’ March Toward Authoritarianism Has Historians Worried

Ben Jacobs at Vice:

One political scientist, the co-author of a book called “How Democracies Die,” put it bluntly: “I think we are headed for a crisis.”

The Republican Party’s rejection of democracy is unprecedented in history or world current events, say historians.

But Jan. 6 was like Fort Sumter. And so far the Democrats are a lot like Buchanan — inviting future bloodshed and crisis by failing to act decisively.

For the Republican Party, Jan. 6 was a training exercise. And it went pretty well for them overall.

The defining characteristics of true democracy are that the outcome of elections are uncertain, and the losing party cedes power. We’re seeing one of the major parties of the US reject both these principles.