Democratic backsliding is not just a matter of how the government treats citizens

We often work and think in silos. Law of democracy scholars assess the state of democracy by considering the fairness of our elections. Traditionally, our focus is on whether voting rules and representation are fair. Lately, the scope of questions has expanded to concerns about transitions of power, political violence, and politically motivated prosecutions. But this video profile of ICE detentions of three green card holders, entitled We Followed the Rules . I ce Jailed Us Anyway , is stark evidence that immigration scholars are right. How our government treats immigrants, like how it historically defined citizenship, reveals a great deal about the state of our liberal democracy. Every government makes mistakes. There is no indication, however, that these stories are examples of mis