Could democracy really die in America?

In this episode of Saving the World from Bad Ideas, Mark Lynas speaks with Susan Stokes, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and Director of the Chicago Center on Democracy, to challenge Bad Idea #30: “It can’t happen here.”

Drawing on her acclaimed book The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies, Stokes reveals the playbook that elected leaders use to quietly erode democracy from within — the same tactics that have turned Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela into hybrid autocracies. She and Mark discuss the United States’ alarming slide under Trump’s second term, the global rise of “backsliders,” and why inequality may be the hidden fuel of modern authoritarianism.

This conversation exposes the real risks facing democratic societies — and what can still be done to save them.

🧠 Topics Discussed:

● ⚖️ The Bad Idea: “It can’t happen here” — and why it already is

● 🧱 The authoritarian playbook: courts, press, civil society, universities, and elections

● 🌀 “Firehose authoritarianism” — how chaos itself becomes a political tool

● 📉 Project 2025 and the new blueprint for executive overreach

● 🧮 How Bright Line Watch measures democratic decline

● 💰 The root cause: why inequality erodes democratic resilience

● 🌍 Why backsliding happens in both rich and poor countries

● 🧠 Right-wing ethno-nationalism vs. left populism — different faces, same logic

● 🎓 Why the educated elite have lost touch with working-class voters

● 🗳️ What Sweden and Brazil can teach us about democratic survival

● 🔮 Can the U.S. still hold a free election — or is this democracy’s last chapter?

👩‍🏫 Guest Bio:

Susan Stokes is the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where she directs the Chicago Center on Democracy. Her work focuses on democratic accountability, political participation, and comparative politics.

She is the author of The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies (Princeton University Press, 2024), which explains how elected leaders across the world — from the U.S. to Hungary to India — erode democracy from within. Stokes also co-founded Bright Line Watch, a project monitoring the health of American democracy through expert and public surveys.

📚 Recommended Reading & Resources:

● The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies – Susan C. Stokes

● Bright Line Watch – Ongoing surveys tracking the state of U.S. democracy

● Chicago Center on Democracy – University of Chicago research initiative

● The Precipice – Toby Ord

● Freedom House: Nations in Transit – Annual global democracy report

● V-Dem Institute – Democracy indices and data

● Project 2025 – The conservative blueprint shaping U.S. governance

💬 Quote Highlights:

“We live in a country where the government acts like an autocracy — and the people still act like it’s a democracy.” — Susan Stokes

“Autocracy doesn’t arrive with a coup. It arrives through the ballot box.”

“Income inequality is democracy’s most powerful poison.” “The courts, the press, the universities — they’re always the first targets.”

“Democracy dies not with a bang, but with a thousand executive orders.”

“If you invest in reducing inequality, you’re investing in democratic survival.”

🌐 About WePlanet:

WePlanet is a global citizen and science movement challenging bad ideas and championing evidence-based solutions for climate, nature, and human development. Learn more at https://weplanet.org

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