this post was submitted on 03 May 2026
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‘Trump is aiming for dictatorship’. That’s the verdict of the world’s most credible democracy watchdog (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by arbilp3@aussie.zone to c/worldnews@aussie.zone
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This article is more than 1 month old but in the light of what's been discussed in the last couple of days, this is relevant.

The US is no longer a democracy. One of the most credible global sources on the health of democratic nations now says this outright. The Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute at Gothenburg University reaches the alarming conclusion in its annual report, that the US is hurtling towards autocracy at a faster rate than Hungary and Turkey.

“Our data on the USA goes back to 1789. What we’re seeing now is the most severe magnitude of democratic backsliding ever in the country,” says Staffan Lindberg, founder of the institute.

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[–] No1@aussie.zone 16 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What has shocked me is that basically the US 'checks and balances' ultimately relied on people 'doing the right thing', and could so easily be undermined.

Similarly, I have little faith that the Westminster system (UK, Australia etc) could survive a bad actor. Eg, just pop in a puppet Governor General in Australia, and away you go.

[–] stylusmobilus@aussie.zone 2 points 1 month ago

That’s happened before, on a few occasions. Whitlam was probably the most prominent.

I’d still back it as a better system because operated correctly (which is always dependent on the people elected and appointed as you highlight with a bad GG, which in turn is dependent on the voters) it’s got good checks and balances.