The US is wealthy per capita, so it should have a high chance of continuing to transit to more democracy, not less. So why is the place falling apart? Well, I called the system capitalist democracy, and that is increasingly a contradiction. American capitalism is unhealthily dominated by monopolies and is marching toward a world of billionaires on the one hand and of workers barely making it on the other. Economic insecurity has increased, which is associated with heightened racism as ethnic groups feel they are competing for a shrinking pie. Remember I said that in 2014 the losers in Libya’s election refused to go home or to acknowledge the rules of the game? And I said that then Libya fell into civil war? And now I am saying that in 2021 a substantial section of the Republican Party doesn’t want to go home after losing and also does not agree on the rules of the game? You do the math.

America’s Transition Away from Democracy and the World’s Wave of De-Democratization