Could US become a dictatorship or do constitutional protections make this impossible?

[mileslunn]

Yes Biden will likely be next president, but is there really a possibility states can override results and appoint their own electors even if for losing candidate in the future.  Georgia and Arizona wisely chose to follow will of people while Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin all have Democrat governors so any legislature attempt to appoint Trump electors would have been vetoed.  But if Georgia and Arizona decided to appoint Trump electors, could they get away with it?  And had GOP won all three houses in the three blue wall states would they be able to do that?  If Florida were deciding state like 2000, DeSantis has indicated he would appoint Trump electors based on his request of other states which Biden won to appoint them.

And also what about congress and senate on January 6th?  Yes any objection will fail as Democrats control congress, but if GOP controlled both and all followed party, could they override results?  Many GOP members accept results but its not out of the realm those will get primaried and replaced with Trump loyalist.

I know it sounds far fetched but just curious if system is so robust a wannabe dictator could never succeed or is there a possibility and Trump only has failed due to the above mentioned circumstances.

Or would courts in each of these cases intervene and block this as it seems courts have been strictly following the law and not being partisan irrespective of Judge's political leanings and who appointed them so is that last line of defence against an autocracy?

[Kuumo]

The U.S. could become a dictatorship in the future, but it won't happen this year because our institutions are still intact enough to prevent a would-be dictator from taking power. I'll be more concerned if it becomes normal for the federal and state governments to ignore court orders that they don't like and law enforcement refuses to step in and enforce those court orders.

[Nyvin]

Mostly due to the Electoral College, yes.

"Electors" shouldn't be a thing, they really don't provide any real benefit whatsoever,  it just makes a bunch of loopholes and potential exploits possible in our system of government.  Just declare the winner of the popular vote the winner of the elections, done.

Even the founding fathers didn't intend electors to be used in this manner, they wanted the states to get a group of people together as electors and then the electors would deliberate between themselves on who's best to be the next president.  That's nothing remotely close to what happens now.

[Hammy]

It's inevitable and I'm surprised it didn't happen already. The constitutional protections are only as strong as the willingness of those in power to abide by them.

[Horus]

It's not inevitable, the current administration exposed some of the cracks but were too inept to take complete advantage.

[GP270watch]

 Yes we could have a dictatorship very easily. The Congress has made the Presidency more powerful while abdicating or purposely sabotaging the governance of this country. The wrong President will come along who will seize the few remaining powers they don't wield and who's going to be able to stop this person.

[TML]

Remember what Alberto Fujimori did in Peru in 1992? That's all it takes to make it officially happen.

[BaldEagle1991]

The U.S. could become a dictatorship in the future

You mean the area of the present-day USA, cause I think the US as a country would have to collapse or cease to exist (e.g. USSR style) for a dictatorship to take place.

[Kuumo]

The U.S. could become a dictatorship in the future

You mean the area of the present-day USA, cause I think the US as a country would have to collapse or cease to exist (e.g. USSR style) for a dictatorship to take place.

It could still be the United States of America in name only. The Constitution only matters if it's enforced. If not, it's just a piece of paper in the National Archives. An autocratic America would not really be the same country, but the government would pretend this was the case by keeping the same flag and anthem and holding blatantly rigged elections every two years.

[GALeftist]

I mean, at the end of the day, the constitution is a piece of paper. Its authority is as robust as people's belief in it.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

After what Trump has done, we need Congressional statutes that initiates the transfer of power after the candidate lost the election, the Trump Election fraud cases has gone too far.  A losing candidate can still contest the election, but they must come together and start the transfer of power just like Hillary did, she transferred Obama power while the recounts were going on.

Trump has taken things too far and Gore and Hillary had standing to sue and they won the PVI and Trump lost it

[BaldEagle1991]

The U.S. could become a dictatorship in the future

You mean the area of the present-day USA, cause I think the US as a country would have to collapse or cease to exist (e.g. USSR style) for a dictatorship to take place.

It could still be the United States of America in name only.

In other words no USA.

[Bomster]

I mean, at the end of the day, the constitution is a piece of paper. Its authority is as robust as people's belief in it.

Just like money

[Kuumo]

The U.S. could become a dictatorship in the future

You mean the area of the present-day USA, cause I think the US as a country would have to collapse or cease to exist (e.g. USSR style) for a dictatorship to take place.

It could still be the United States of America in name only.

In other words no USA.

I suppose so.

[The Houstonian]

Remember what Alberto Fujimori did in Peru in 1992? That's all it takes to make it officially happen.

Could the same happen in America?

[Non Swing Voter]

Trump is like the closest you can get to that situation and he's not very close at all.

[mileslunn]

Trump is like the closest you can get to that situation and he's not very close at all.

Trump is truly IMHO a wannabe authoritarian.  Just not very smart thus why he has failed.  Someone like Putin and Xi Xinping and many others may share Trump's authoritarian tendencies, but they are all a lot smarter and a lot more strategic.  If US had a leader with their level of strategic and smarts would they still be able to thwart it?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Trump is like the closest you can get to that situation and he's not very close at all.

Not even remotely. #DiaperDon is grossly incompetent and his own worst enemy. I think there's a high probability we see a competent version of him try to seize power within the next three elections, making many of the same maneuvers but without his many inadequacies.

[Badger]

I think we're a fair bit away from a literal dictatorship, but I see us on the precipice of falling into failed democracy status in the direction of Russia and Hungary, where combination of gerrymandering, the Electoral College, a packed right-wing anti-democratic Federal judiciary, increasingly aggressive  voter suppression measures , and increasingly Un representative rural state dominated Senate effectively kills democracy as a viable tool of governance in this country.

If you think the economic Elites control the system now, just wait.

[BaldEagle1991]

I think we're a fair bit away from a literal dictatorship, but I see us on the precipice of falling into failed democracy status in the direction of Russia and Hungary, where combination of gerrymandering, the Electoral College, a packed right-wing anti-democratic Federal judiciary, increasingly aggressive  voter suppression measures , and increasingly Un representative rural state dominated Senate effectively kills democracy as a viable tool of governance in this country.

If you think the economic Elites control the system now, just wait.

I think a country that fits best for the future of the United States of America is The Philippines.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I mean, at the end of the day, the constitution is a piece of paper. Its authority is as robust as people's belief in it.

Exactly.

Constitutional protections are powerless on their own. Politicians will only abide by them as long as they believe it's in their best interest to do so. This incentive has clearly been weakening over the past couple decades, but it clearly still exists for now. I don't know how long it will, though.

[PSOL]

Our elite are far too divided for that to happen.

[pbrower2a]

Yes Biden will likely be next president, but is there really a possibility states can override results and appoint their own electors even if for losing candidate in the future.  Georgia and Arizona wisely chose to follow will of people while Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin all have Democrat governors so any legislature attempt to appoint Trump electors would have been vetoed.

The GOP holds on Arizona and Georgia are getting shaky as their popular support fades. Note well that there is no precedent for elected officials of any kind denying the  popular vote. Elections are game-like contests, and if the rules are changed to decide that the people who played by the rules and won the game by those rules are to surrender the win to the apparent loser. To be sure there are cases in which a proved cheater, as in Olympic events, is stripped of the win for use of unapproved performance-enhancing substances.

Is there any evidence of cheating? No. The election rightly stands because all others stand.     

  But if Georgia and Arizona decided to appoint Trump electors, could they get away with it?  And had GOP won all three houses in the three blue wall states would they be able to do that?  If Florida were deciding state like 2000, DeSantis has indicated he would appoint Trump electors based on his request of other states which Biden won to appoint them.

And also what about congress and senate on January 6th?  Yes any objection will fail as Democrats control congress, but if GOP controlled both and all followed party, could they override results?  Many GOP members accept results but its not out of the realm those will get primaried and replaced with Trump loyalist.

I know it sounds far fetched but just curious if system is so robust a wannabe dictator could never succeed or is there a possibility and Trump only has failed due to the above mentioned circumstances.

Or would courts in each of these cases intervene and block this as it seems courts have been strictly following the law and not being partisan irrespective of Judge's political leanings and who appointed them so is that last line of defence against an autocracy?
[/quote]

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Constitutional protections mean nothing if people don’t respect or enforce them.

[DaleCooper]

Trump is like the closest you can get to that situation and he's not very close at all.

Trump is truly IMHO a wannabe authoritarian.  Just not very smart thus why he has failed.  Someone like Putin and Xi Xinping and many others may share Trump's authoritarian tendencies, but they are all a lot smarter and a lot more strategic.  If US had a leader with their level of strategic and smarts would they still be able to thwart it?

I actually don't think that somebody as smart as that would achieve the popularity necessary to take power in America. If Trump were intelligent, then his base wouldn't like him.