OpEd: “100 Years after Mussolini’s Dictatorship, a Trumpian US Flirts with the Long Night of Authoritarianism”
I am pleased to announce the publication of my OpEd, “100 Years after Mussolini's Dictatorship, a Trumpian US Flirts with the Long Night of Authoritarianism,” in Common Dreams' Opinion section. The OpEd attempts to draw parallels between the political crisis that precipitated Benito Mussolini's destruction of Italy's democracy and the building of his single-party dictatorship and our own country's political and legal crises surrounding Donald J. Trump's re-election as the 47th POTUS. If the comparisons between Mussolini’s declaration of dictatorship and Trump’s re-election are so striking, as I have insisted, we may well be witnessing the twilight of American democracy, and the beginning of the long night of authoritarianism in the United States.
Below is an abstract for “100 Years after Mussolini's Dictatorship, a Trumpian US Flirts with the Long Night of Authoritarianism,” along with a URL where you can read the full OpEd.
Abstract
In June 1924, Mussolini ordered the murder of a Member of Parliament. The political crisis which ensued nearly brought down his coalition government. On January 3, 1925, Mussolini resolved to put an end to this political turmoil by daring his colleagues in Parliament to apply the constitutional power of impeachment against him. When no one did, Mussolini demonstrated that he was above law and order. One century later, Mussolini’s declaration of dictatorship, which inaugurated twenty or so years of democratic backsliding and the spread of authoritarianisms in Europe, continues to haunt the halls of power in liberal democracies throughout the Western world. The recent re-election of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States of America serves as a chilling reminder of the appeal of anti-democratic strongmen in times of social, political, and economic flux. Similar to Mussolini one hundred years ago, Trump has demonstrated a complete disdain for the Constitution and the universal application of law and order. Thus, when Trump is inaugurated as the United States’ 47th POTUS on January 20, 2025 – merely three weeks following the centennial of Mussolini’s declaration of dictatorship – he will be in the position to strong arm political, judicial, and military power without any meaningful checks and balances. Trump will be, as he promised in December 2023, a dictator on “day one.”
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