Authoritarianism

The Atlantic writer Robert Kagan says as Trump violates norms, laws and the Constitution, including his call to nationalize elections, "we're on the edge of the consolidation of dictatorship."

Reich served under President Clinton from 1993 to 1997. He opens his new memoir, Coming Up Short, with an apology on behalf of the Baby Boom generation for failing to build a more just society.

Steven Levitsky studies how healthy democracies can slip into authoritarianism. He says the Trump administration has already done grave damage: "We are no longer living in a democratic regime."

The Atlantic writer Anne Applebaum says President Trump's dismantling of the U.S. civil service system, and his attacks on judges and his opponents, are part of a playbook on undermining democracy.

Maria Ressa has faced criminal charges, death threats and internet trolls because of her coverage of the Philippine president. She's the subject of a new PBS FRONTLINE documentary, A Thousand Cuts.

Kai Strittmatter's new book, We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China's Surveillance State, examines the role of surveillance in China's authoritarian state. He warns that Chinese President Xi Jinping, who came to power in 2012, has embraced an ideological rigidity unknown since the days of Mao Zedong.

Atlantic writer Anne Applebaum draws parallels between regimes in Eastern Europe and the Trump White House. She says our democracy can be destroyed — unless people fight back.

Atlantic journalist Anne Applebaum says the changes taking place in Poland — including a rise of conspiracy theories and attacks on the free press — mirror similar shifts happening in the U.S.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright describes herself as an "optimist who worries a lot." And lately, it seems, there has been much to worry about.

Journalist Stan Sesser. He is a staff writer and reporter for The New Yorker. He talks with Terry about Singapore and the neo-authoritarianism that exists there. Neo-authoritarianism combines communism's authority over its population with capitalism's free market system. Sesser says its a growing trend in the Pacific Rim. (His article about Singapore appears in the January 13, 1992 issue of The New Yorker.)