antidemocratic behavior has been lowered. The deterrent effect evaporates. Semi-loyalty doesn’t just normalize antidemocratic forces; it encourages—and may even radicalize—them. This is the banality of authoritarianism. Many of the politicians who preside over a democracy’s collapse are just ambitious careerists trying to stay in office or perhaps win a higher one. They do not oppose democracy out of deep-seated principle but are merely indifferent to it. They tolerate or condone antidemocratic extremism because it is the path of least resistance. These politicians often tell themselves they
...more
