Fascists, wearing the skin of the Republican Party like a disguise, are playing autocracy chess

President Donald Trump is the ailing figurehead of a right-wing Christian nationalist movement that has completely taken over the former Republican Party. More accurately described as “American fascism” than as one of our democracy’s two political parties, this movement is autocratic in nature, well-organized, well-funded, and enjoys the support of at least 30% of the electorate.

It is in it for the long haul, no matter how long, and for well beyond Trump.

In fact, Trump is just the initial phase of the movement — “get him elected, ride his coattails into power, and then consolidate power from the inside” seems to be the game plan. The movement barely needs him anymore, and, in fact, he’s becoming more of a liability day by day.

The question is, are those who are opposed to American fascism ready for the long haul, no matter how long, for whatever comes post-Trump? Are we sure our short attention spans won’t tune out once he is gone from the picture?

I — a person who has long worked to get Republicans elected — ask because, right now, with Trump still in the picture, this autocratic movement is winning, and our democracy is losing.

Democrats, meanwhile, are mostly flailing ineffectively because they still think in terms of a democracy, with two political parties, and democratic policies, procedures, and processes. But that’s an outdated paradigm. We’re post-democracy now. The proper term for us now is an “anocracy.”

Founded in 1997, the Center for Systemic Peace is a nonprofit organization based in Vienna that continually monitors political behavior in each of the world’s major states and reports on emerging issues and persisting conditions related to the problems of political violence and “state failure.” The group urgently warned earlier this year that “the USA is no longer considered a democracy and lies at the cusp of autocracy; it has experienced a presidential coup and adverse regime change.”

The center’s Polity Project uses an objective, factor-based spectrum of democracy to autocracy to assess and rate governments of the world. On that scale, +10 is most democratic and -10 is most autocratic. The U.S. dropped to +5 during Trump’s first term, then bounced back to +8 during Joe Biden’s presidency.

As of February, the U.S. has dramatically dropped to 0. We’re in the meaty part of an anocracy — the unstable transition period between democracy and autocracy. Anocracies lie between +5 and -5 on that same scale. They exhibit characteristics of both democracy and autocracy.

We have elections, for instance, but they may or may not be fair, open, or competitive. We have a Constitution, but the rights it bestows are being systematically stripped; its hallmarks like separation of powers, checks and balances, due process, equal protection, and independent judiciary are being eroded and undermined.

We are rife with cronyism, favoritism, and the misuse of power for personal gain. Anocracies are marked by increasing violence, instability, unrest, fraying of institutions, and constitutional crises. Anocracies are where civil wars are most likely to occur.

So, while hapless Democrats are still playing democracy checkers, American fascists, wearing the dead skin of the Republican Party like a disguise, are playing autocracy chess, and they can smell checkmate.

Our very last chance to save our democracy will be the 2026 midterm elections, if we can even get there. And if we do, will the elections still be competitive?

Harvard professor of government Steven Levitsky refers to an anocratic system called “competitive authoritarianism,” in which parties still compete in elections, but where the systemic abuse of an incumbent’s power tilts the playing field against the opposition.

Commentator Chris Armitage notes that, once fascists win power democratically, they have never been removed democratically. According to Armitage, out of about 50 attempts to take power, the number of autocratic fascist takeovers that were prevented after they had won power democratically is zero. There have been zero fascist regimes removed by voting; most were removed by war or military coup.

So, in the early 2040s — 100 years after the U.S. and its allies defeated fascism in Europe — will Canada, Mexico, and their allies, the U.K., France, Germany, Australia, Denmark, maybe even Ukraine, need to invade the U.S. to defeat fascism?

Robert S. Nix is a lawyer in Philadelphia. He was a political consultant on Republican Hispanic outreach in Pennsylvania for Bush-Cheney in 2004, for U.S. Sens. Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter, and for the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee. He is a past Republican candidate for the Pennsylvania Senate, and more recently has served as a volunteer spokesperson for Republican Voters Against Trump. He can be reached at rnix@myphillylawyer.com.