The competing systems of power in the United States are divided between oligarchy and autocracy. There are no other alternatives. Neither are pleasant. Each have peculiar and distasteful ...

A response to the letter writers who make claims that if Donald Trump is elected, the US will turn into an autocracy. Example: "If you vote for Donald Trump, you will get a dictator on the first day.

We used to have a pretty clear idea of what an autocrat was. History is full of examples: Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, along with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping today. The list goes on. So, ...

This past week, Donald Trump, the autocrat-as-defendant, was in court, going so far as to contribute to a closing statement, which is about as rare as a passenger walking up to the cockpit and taking ...

The historic prisoner release from Russia was thanks to the diplomatic work of a group of democracies to free over a dozen people from the autocratic regime of Vladimir Putin. Anne Applebaum's new ...

Increased political polarization makes a country more vulnerable to the schemes of a “closet autocrat” — an elected leader who implements authoritarian reforms in the disguise of advancing the ...

Three decades ago, many liberals proclaimed victory for democracy and a “rules-based international order”. But today the majority of the world’s population live in countries that are only partially ...

The Open Mind explores the world of ideas across politics, media, science, technology, and the arts. The American Prospect is republishing this edited excerpt. Alexander Heffner: Masha, if the United ...