American democracy is not in a good place. Institutional breakdown and mistrust define our political moment. Polarization has broken our politics, and President Donald Trump has elevated fealty to him — as opposed to the Constitution — as the core principle of governance.
And the American story is part of a global story. If the post-World War II decades tell the tale of liberal democracy triumphant, the 21st century paints a darker picture. Values and ideals once considered foundational and immutable have come under threat. The rise of autocracy and the retreat of liberal democracy may well be the dominant narrative when historians look back on the first quarter of the century.
So, where does the story go from here? That’s a question we wanted to take on in this ambitious series of narrative features, video explainers, and podcast episodes.
Senior correspondent Zack Beauchamp traveled to Brazil to find out how that country succeeded in holding off its own autocratic threat, and what the United States can learn from it. He also offers a zoom-out view of the lessons from other democratic near-misses.
Our Today, Explained podcast team traveled to Poland to report on its own experience with democratic backsliding, and our video team provides other perspectives, including a piece that tells the story of how Finland turned back its homegrown fascist threat in the 1930s.
This package takes as its starting point that global democracy is in a bad way — but that the diagnosis, while serious, isn’t terminal. America can learn from the example of other democracies that have also faltered, but ultimately succeeded. Read all of our stories from the "America After Trump" series below.
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—Swati Sharma, editor-in-chief
