As I write this, November 3rd elections are just days away. The results may be far more important than most realize.
Democracies rarely collapse in a single dramatic moment. More often they erode, one norm at a time. As one scholar who fled Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s power in Turkey said, “We didn’t just wake up one morning in an authoritarian system, it happened very gradually.” Political scientists call this a slide into “competitive authoritarianism,” a hybrid political regime in which elections are held but incumbents abuse state power to tilt the results.
Is the U.S. under President Donald Trump sliding in that direction? His governing methods that echo those utilized by Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Erdoğan and other autocrats suggest “yes.”
Xi and Putin began their autocratic reigns and control of elections in 2012, Erdoğan in 2014. Compared to them, Trump is still a wannabe, but what a wannabe he is, following their playbooks to consolidate power:
• Purge officials and fill the civil service, military, prosecutors’ offices, and judiciary with loyalists;
• Attack the media, universities, and nongovernmental organizations to blunt criticism;
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• Undermine judicial authority;
• Reward loyalty, punish disloyalty, and make independence costly; and
• Interfere with elections to tilt them to the ruling party’s favor.
Examples of Trump’s efforts are plentiful:
• Besides DOGE, in June 2026 Trump stripped job protections from nearly 8,000 senior federal positions, making policy-level career staff removable at will;
• He fired most independent inspectors general and has yet to replace many;
• He banned critical media from the Pentagon and White House and replaced them with favorable reporters;
• He pressured universities to change policies and pay to retain federal funding, including Brown, Harvard, Columbia, Northwestern, Cornell, Pennsylvania, and Virginia;
• His administration has violated 31 district court orders;
• He got prosecutors and FBI officials tied to investigations of him fired;
• His lawyers initiated indictments of non-loyalists, opponents, and former allies including Jerome Powell, Lisa Cook, John Bolton, Cassidy Hutchinson, Letitia James, Fani Willis, John Brennan, Mark Kelly, Elissa Slotkin, and Adam Schiff.
He also wants to manipulate elections. He issued an executive order changing voter registration, ballot casting, and vote counting. He sent investigators across the country seeking confidential records, pressing for access to voting equipment, and re-examining rejected voter-fraud cases. And he has lawyers preparing to contest upcoming congressional elections.
Free elections matter. Hungary’s free election ended Viktor Orban’s 16-year reign. Israel’s free election may have ended 17 years of Benjamin Netanyahu. Unfree elections will soon re-crown Xi, Putin, and Erdoğan.
Unless the U.S. elects a congress on Nov. 3rd willing to reign in Trump’s power, elections in 2028 may be far less free.
“For those who exalt themselves will be humbled” Matthew 23:12.
Crawford is an author and syndicated columnist from Jackson.
