U.S. President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin throughout their bilateral assembly in Osaka, Japan, June, 28, 2019. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Pictures

Six weeks after the U.S. election, President Donald Trump had nonetheless not accepted defeat. This conduct is just not typical in mature democracies. And it’s harking back to nations with what political scientists name “hybrid regimes” – nations which have parts of democracy however in follow aren’t democracies.

For us – politics students learning Latin America and the previous Soviet Union – Trump’s resistance to election outcomes underscores the fragility of democratic establishments when confronted with authoritarian practices. These embody deligitimizing election outcomes, interfering with judicial independence and attacking impartial media and opposition.

Trump is a part of a world pattern in authoritarianism. The US can be taught a fantastic deal from different nations the place democracies fell sufferer to the authoritarian playbook.

Rigging elections

Trump and members of the Republican Celebration claimed fraud within the presidential elections. They tried to overturn legally solid ballots in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan. Trump, moreover, has urged state leaders to disregard the need of voters and provides their electoral votes to him.

Disregard for voters and electoral guidelines are techniques nicely documented in hybrid regimes. Though Trump has charged that the U.S. election was rigged, it was not.

Really rigged elections contain practices like poll field stuffing – including false ballots to reputable ones, or shopping for the voters by providing residents cash or jobs in change for votes.

Barring opposition candidates from working for workplace, as Russia has completed, is one other tactic.

Different regimes, like Alexander Lukashenko’s in Belarus, strain electoral officers to falsify electoral outcomes to make sure victories with huge margins. This triggered large protests in August.

1000’s of individuals collect in Minsk to name for the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko, on Aug. 23, 2020.

Ulf Mauder/image alliance by way of Getty Pictures

In Venezuela, since roughly 2005, former President Hugo Chávez seized management of vote processing and counting by means of the Nationwide Electoral Council, a department of presidency that oversees elections. This manner, any election irregularities all the time damage the opposition.

And Chávez inspired the voters to vote for him in the event that they had been state workers or obtained authorities advantages. At occasions, they obtained outright threats that they might lose their jobs if they didn’t vote for him.

Different types of “encouragement” in Venezuela included “purple tents” subsequent to polling stations. These had been authorities stations the place individuals might join authorities advantages and obtain small presents.

President Trump did one thing related by placing his title on stimulus checks in April, which can have been unlawful however was by no means adjudicated.

He additionally tried to rig the U.S. election by insisting that mail-in votes shouldn’t be counted after Election Day, after which tried to overturn election outcomes primarily based on that declare.

‘Enemies of the individuals’

Coined by the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, the phrase “enemies of the individuals” – used in opposition to all who disagreed with him – has entered Trump’s vocabulary.

Earlier in his presidency, Trump referred to as the press the “enemies of the individuals.” Extra not too long ago, Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, earned this title from Trump after defending his state’s election course of.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been in energy since 2000 and consolidated his autocratic rule by amending the Russian structure, has an extended checklist of opposition leaders, civil teams and journalists who’ve change into “enemies of the individuals.”

Pet judiciaries

Earlier than the election, Trump insisted mail voting was riddled with fraud and tried to overturn Nevada’s vote-by-mail regulation. He insisted that there can be election disputes and that filling the Supreme Court docket seat was essential for that purpose.

Sure, the excessive courtroom has rejected Trump’s efforts to overturn election outcomes. However Trump’s audacious try mirrors techniques utilized by authoritarian leaders.

Related situations to the one Trump hoped for performed out with Evo Morales in Bolivia and Juan Orlando Hernández in Honduras.

Morales and Hernández had been capable of set up judges who dominated that clauses within the constitutions prohibiting reelection had been unconstitutional. That, in flip, allowed each leaders to run efficiently for reelection.

‘Legislation and order’

Authoritarian leaders additionally favor “regulation and order” arguments to justify their legitimacy. They paint themselves as the last word arbiters of what presents a risk.

Russia’s Putin has emphasised his dedication to stability and safety, elevating the standing of safety forces loyal to him, often known as siloviki. These safety forces now maintain excessive positions in Russian politics, enterprise and society.

Trump has additionally cultivated the picture of a strongman, calling for the mobilization of the Nationwide Guard to quell racial justice protests.

Just like autocratic leaders in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Ukraine, Trump has refused to denounce far-right militias just like the Proud Boys, telling them as a substitute to “stand again and stand by,” which was interpreted as a command.

And he prompt that individuals “liberate” Michigan from the state’s social distancing measures amid the pandemic, a transfer critics denounced for inciting rebel.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is seen throughout the United Socialist Celebration of Venezuela’s annual congress on July 31, 2014, at Caracas’ Mountain Barracks, the place the stays of former President Hugo Chavez relaxation.

Juan Barreto/AFP by way of Getty Pictures

Lasting results

Trump has used ploys from the autocratic playbook all through his presidency, and that can have lasting penalties.

Trump’s rejection of election outcomes damages the legitimacy of the democratic course of.

On the whole, it encourages different autocrats and would-be autocrats to problem the electoral course of in the event that they don’t just like the outcomes. For the U.S., it promotes the assumption that President-elect Joe Biden’s presidency will likely be illegitimate.

A rustic’s stability largely is determined by individuals accepting the outcomes if their aspect loses. If a good portion of the general public refuses to, historical past reveals that violence won’t be far behind.

For the USA, the lesson is stark. Surviving the latest electoral turmoil doesn’t assure it’s going to outlast an analogous state of affairs the following time.

Republican leaders’ failure to repudiate baseless allegations of electoral fraud – and a few Republicans’ willingness to pursue authorized motion primarily based on these claims – additional undermines the legitimacy of the democratic course of.

Trump was defeated, however Trumpism may have a long-lasting impact.

[You’re too busy to read everything. We get it. That’s why we’ve got a weekly newsletter. Sign up for good Sunday reading. ]

The authors don’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or group that might profit from this text, and have disclosed no related affiliations past their tutorial appointment.