LSE: Is the United States still a democracy? In an interview with EUROPP’s editor Stuart Brown, Brian Klaas discusses Donald Trump’s impact on American and global democracy.
I would say the United States is now a “competitive authoritarian” system. This is political science jargon for countries that have the trappings of democracy, but without a level playing field.
In other words, there is genuine competition in the United States between political parties and democratic institutions persist, but the state is able to manipulate outcomes to its advantage, disadvantage its opponents and use state power in illegitimate or undemocratic ways with little to no recourse against it.
Political scientists continue to debate this topic, but few would classify the United States as a robust democracy. It is either a democracy in crisis that is barely clinging onto the label, or one that has tipped over the edge into competitive authoritarianism – and I believe it’s the latter. » | Brian Klaas | Friday, September 19, 2025
