Source: Common Dreams
by Robert Ivie
“The premise of After Empire: Myth, Rhetoric, and Democratic Revival (which I coauthored with Oscar Giner last year) is that the backlash to the decline of US empire bodes ill for democracy. Indeed, the roots of democracy are being torn up in the name of ‘Making America Great Again.’ Authoritarian rule is ascendant. While not dead yet, collective self-rule in America (whether it is called liberal democracy, electoral democracy, representative democracy, or constitutional democracy) is rapidly disintegrating. The alternative of reviving the nation’s flagging democracy, I want to suggest, must include the practice of deliberative dissent. One can hope that democracy will bounce back, starting with the 2026 election, eventually to recover its previous status and perhaps even deepen its cultural roots. It is too early not to hope. Already, though, those who would defend democracy are operating on undemocratic terrain.” (09/24/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/dissent-to-save-democracy