> Independent institutions are weakened or dismantled.Trump filed massive frivolous lawsuits against law firms, colleges, financial first and other business entities. Most fell in line with a few exceptions.
> Courts are subordinated to the executive.
The courts broadly have not fallen, but there are judges that are purely partisan (Eileen Canon, the dude who sighed the Georgia search warrant). Given enough time the courts will fall.
> Regional governments lose autonomy.
Trump has begun putting pressure on blue states by withholding money. Ice was dispatched to Minneapolis to show everyone what will happen to those that defy him. Local government is still mostly safe, but give it time.
> Legislatures either become rubber stamps or are dissolved.
We'll see what happens in the midterms.
> Emergency powers are often invoked and then made permanent.
IEEPA comes to mind. But his invasions emergencies too.
> Second, they eliminate political opposition. Rival parties are banned.
The midterms may be the last chance before opposition is either banned or entirely impossible.
> Opposition leaders are jailed, exiled, or killed.
Charges against political opponents like Leticia James, Adam Schiff, James Comey. Broadly thrown out for now, but if the courts fall this will happen. ICE has been charging protestors with bullshit charges constantly.
> Trade unions are dissolved or absorbed into state-controlled structures.
Businesses accomplished this years ago on their own.
> Elections, if they continue, become symbolic rather than competitive.
Midterms. We'll see
> Third, they cultivate loyalty to a single leader. The regime builds a personality cult around a figure presented as the embodiment of the nation. Loyalty shifts from constitution and law to the leader personally. Oaths of allegiance are often rewritten to bind military, civil servants, and professionals directly to that individual.
This is just MAGA. I don't believe oaths have been changed yet.
> Fourth, they fuse nationalism with identity politics. The state defines a “true people” and casts minorities, dissidents, or outsiders as internal enemies. This often leads to discriminatory laws and, in extreme cases, ethnic cleansing or genocide, as occurred under Adolf Hitler.
Rise of white Christian nationalism, branding of protestors/opposition as domestic terrorists.
> Fifth, they control information. Independent media is suppressed or co-opted. Propaganda becomes a primary governing tool.
Bari Weiss reshaping CBS, Bezos reshaping wapo, Sinclair media refusing to air Jimmy Kimmel, Brendan Carr threatening licenses for speech. Every single thing trump does on twitter and truth social.
> Education systems are reshaped to reinforce ideology. Culture, art, and science are pressured to align with the state narrative.
DOGE cancelling grants for non approved research. Integration of Turning Point USA into schools.
> Sixth, they militarize society. Paramilitary groups are normalized or integrated into state power.
ICE.
> Public life adopts martial symbols and rhetoric.
Not much, but soon.
> Foreign policy often becomes expansionist, framed as reclaiming national greatness.
Greenland, Venezuela, Iran.
> Seventh, they restructure the economy around state direction and political loyalty. Private property may remain formally intact, but major industries operate in alignment with state priorities. Business leaders who cooperate are rewarded; those who resist are sidelined or punished.
Anthropic/openai drama this week, golden shares in US Steel, Nvidia export controls, tariffs.
> The through-line is loyalty over legality. Institutions stop being neutral frameworks and become instruments of the ruling ideology. The regime reframes dissent as treason and criticism as sabotage.
If you don't see this you're not paying attention.
One thing not mentioned is blatant massive corruption, nepotism, cronyism. We see that every single day.
Thanks for the list.