US Capitol police officers stand on guard as a group of protesters march on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on September 2, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images New York —

The nation’s top economic statistician was fired . Central bank independence is being undermined . The federal government is buying chunks of private companies and demanding cuts of revenue streams . Presidential power to lob tariffs has been wielded in unprecedented fashion. And federal regulators are threatening media companies over late-night comics.

These events all took place this year, and not in a third-world country, but in the world’s preeminent democracy under President Donald Trump.

Some political scientists see a pattern that suggests American democracy is being undermined in real time. The stakes

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