The Political Scene | The New Yorker

How Bad Is It?: Three Political Scientists Say America Is No Longer a Democracy

December 11, 2025·46 min·4-min readroundtablepolitics
Podzilla Summary (4 min)
TLDR
Leading scholars Steven Levitsky, Lucan A. Way, and Daniel Ziblatt argue that the United States has entered a period of competitive authoritarianism under Donald Trump’s second term, marked by rapid weaponization of state institutions, erosion of civil liberties, and self-censorship, thou

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Guest

S

Steven Levitsky

roundtable on The Political Scene | The New Yorker

Mentions

Books, people, and resources mentioned in this episode.

People

Andrew MarantzSteven LevitskyDaniel ZiblattLucan A. Way

Books

How Democracies Dieby Steven Levitsky, Daniel ZiblattCompetitive Authoritarianismby Steven Levitsky, Lucan A. Way

Research & Papers

The Price of American Authoritarianismby Steven Levitsky, Lucan A. Way, Daniel Ziblatt

Topics

AuthoritarianismDemocracyElectionsLong Form JournalismPolitical NewsUs Politics

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