A new crop of dictators has arrived on the scene, but, this time, by way of the democratic process:

“Around the world, from the richest countries to the poorest, a dangerous new crop of leaders has sprung up. Unlike their totalitarian counterparts, these populists entered office through elections. (Moisés Naím, “The Dictator’s New Playbook: Why Democracy Is Losing the Fight,” Foreign Affairs, March/April 2022)

Until the past couple of decades, we hadn’t realized that keeping democracy is just as hard as gaining it. For this system to work, we have to be willing to lose to the side that has more votes than we do (whether popular or electoral.)

Losing is easier if the other side still looks and sounds somewhat like us. In the past few decades, more and more people, in the United States and elsewhere, don’t look like the white men who founded the country in 1776 or even the Greatest Generation who won World War II.

One of the playbooks for the new leaders, Naím writes, is vilifying those on the other side as some kind of dangerous force: “Populists work to collapse all political controversies into this ‘noble people’ versus ‘venal elite’ dichotomy, explaining any and every problem as the direct consequence of a dastardly plan by a small but all-powerful group harboring contempt for a pure but powerless people whom it exploits. Of course, if that is the case, what the people need is a messianic savior, a champion able to stand up to that voracious elite, to bring it to heel on behalf of the people.”

Court after court has upheld the election results of the U.S. 2020 election. Probably no voting in the history of the world has been as examined and certified as that election. Doesn’t matter. A myth will serve against hard facts if needed by a would-be dictator.

Gerrymandering districts to filter out any power to groups who might be opposed to the would-be dictator is standard practice.

At the same time, “a pseudo press” is crafted. A news outlet practices, not independent journalism, but political propaganda.

Such is the end result of the inability to abide by one of a democracy’s most important rules: you have to be willing to realize your human imperfection. You have to be willing to accept defeat when your side loses.