Why Strongmen Succeed

The election of Donald Trump, whose campaign trafficked in racism and misogyny, as the president of the United States is a calamity. But for those who experienced in 2014 the election of Narendra Modi, proud member of a minority-baiting alt-right organization, as India’s prime minister, the ascent of Trump induces deja vu. And to those who have witnessed the subsequent radical makeover of India under Modi, the prospect of Trump assuming supreme power brings on acute foreboding.

For what is threatened now in the U.S. is not just free trade, liberalism or a technocratic and professional class of politician accused of being out of touch with ordinary people. It is democracy itself -- the central project of the modern world, in which people come together to form a political community that defines its shared laws, ensuring dignity and equal rights for each citizen, irrespective of ethnicity, race, religion and gender.