In a post shared by liberal Harvard Law School star Laurence Tribe, NYU Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat — a specialist in Mussolini and fascism — both defines authoritarianism and encourages Americans to exercise their rights to prevent it before it takes root in America.
Recognizing a pattern of authoritarian ascension she has examined in her scholarship, Ben-Ghiat urges Americans to attempt to convince those “still under the MAGA influence” that a second Donald Trump presidential term, during which he has promised political retribution against his enemies, would be a “catastrophe for America.”
In a quote pulled out for Tribe’s retweet, Ben-Ghiat urges resistance, asserting that history shows “fatalism is the friend of autocrats.”
The author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, Ben-Ghiat warns that Trump’s statements about being a dictator “on day one” should be taken seriously, and claims Trump “has every intention of governing as an authoritarian.”
“Fatalism is the friend of autocrats.” https://t.co/Bv6eHq1bCW
— Laurence Tribe 🇺🇦 ⚖️ (@tribelaw) December 12, 2023
Defining authoritarianism in real life terms, Ben-Ghiat says: “Authoritarianism is when the executive overwhelms, politicizes, domesticates the other branches of government. So takes away the independence of the judiciary, threatens the press into compliance, has a civil service that just rubberstamps repressive measures.”
[NOTE: The Supreme Court announced yesterday — responding to Special Counsel Jack Smith‘s request — that it will consider ruling on Trump’s claims of presidential immunity from all criminal charges arising out of actions taken while he was president, claims which essentially put the president “above the law.”]
The description of Ben-Ghiat’s Strongmen says “ours is the age of authoritarian rulers: self-proclaimed saviors of the nation who evade accountability while robbing their people of truth, treasure, and the protections of democracy.” It groups Vladimir Putin, Mobutu Sese Seko, August Pinochet, Muammar Gaddafi, Donald Trump and Silvio Berlusconi as examples of “how authoritarian rule, far from ensuring stability, is marked by destructive chaos.”
Yale University Professor and historian Timothy Snyder called Strongmen “a timely analysis of how a certain kind of charisma delivers political disaster.”