Representative image. / Canva

Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser, has threatened to suspend habeas corpus, the core principle of democracy. American Community Media’s panel met to explore this critical question: Is the United States drifting toward authoritarianism.They discussed how democracies weaken from within—and whether American institutions are resilient enough to resist.

Habeas corpus is a fundamental right designed to prevent unlawful or arbitrary imprisonment. Stephen Miller said the President is “actively looking at” suspending the right for people to see a judge if detained in the U.S. Legal scholars say that Congress, not Trump, has that power. According to leading scholars of democracy, these are classic indicators of a country on the road away from democratic rule.

At the center of this concern is a pattern: Trump increasingly asserts that his presidential power is absolute and beyond question. He routinely attacks the judiciary, installs loyalists over qualified experts, and treats critical institutions—including universities and the independent press—as enemies of the state. His administration appears to use the tools of government to reward allies and punish dissent.

“Donald Trump just said in an interview,” said Prof. Aziz Z. Huq, Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor of Law, University of Chicago “that it would just take too long to do all the trials for ‘the poor people.’ Essentially, he does not want to comply with the law in order to do what he wants to do.”

A new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll reveals that 49% of respondents believe the president is expanding his authority, flouting the rule of law, and steering the nation away from its founding principles.

The pace of change is staggering 

“What is striking about the US case is the rapid pace of change. It is much more rapid and effortful in imposing authoritarianism than we’ve seen in places like Hungary, Turkey or India,” said Lucan Ahmad Way, Distinguished Professor of Democracy, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto. “We expected the path to be relatively slow and legalistic. The swift and open disregard for the courts and court rulings and legality was very surprising to us.” 

The nature of authoritarianism has changed 

The nature of authoritarianism has changed quite dramatically, felt Way. In the last 50 years we used to see military coups but today 63 percent of dictators are elected. It is a different type of dictatorship. It is what we call competitive authoritarianism. These are cases like Hungary, Turkey and India, where they do have regular elections and opposition is allowed to campaign openly and sometimes even win elections. They have the appearance of democracy, but in fact what goes on is harassment that basically increases the cost of opposition.”

In the United States, Way said, we have unambiguous competitive authoritarianism. Mainstream opposition is now costly. People who never historically faced any kind of challenge by supporting one of the two major parties now are attacked. This is truly a major significant break from past American history. 

“Democracy is very much over.” 

Institutions are under attack

“Pattern of non compliance of court orders, legal attacks on the court system to the extent it acts as a check on the executive branch are commonplace,” said Huq. Given the broader context of a campaign to scare judges to not give orders that are in defiance of the executive branch, it is alarming.”

To the extent that the President orders noncompliance of a court order, there is no remedy through the judicial system for that action, said Huq. 

Habeas Corpus cornerstone of democracy

The panelists pointed out that the right to tell your side of the story is a cornerstone of democracy. 

“The constitution contains a provision that prevents the government from suspending habeas corpus, " said Huq. Habeas Corpus is a right by which an individual can tell the court that they are wrongly detained. When an individual who has been detained files a habeas corpus petition in the local court jurisdiction, it is not lawful for the government to move that person out of the jurisdiction let alone to another country.