As @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social keeps saying, this perpetual chipping away at democratic fairness hacks the system w/ veneer of legitimacy, resulting in competitive authoritarianism. The spectacle of blue states redistricting by referendum and red states delaying elections to do so is an example.

I still think Democrats will win the House given the national environment. If they do not, and it's because of courts permitting gerrymandering for one side, there is going to be a very strong argument that we're in Orbán territory.

I thought I had heard every leftist slur against liberalism, but “liberals killed rock” is definitely a new one jacobin.com/2026/05/popt...

I wrote about how parasociality invades our political lives, from Trumpism to the KHive to Will Stancil discourse. I hope you’ll give it a read www.liberalcurrents.com/the-parasoci...

Really liked this @mattyglesias.bsky.social piece on the problem with the podcast/creator approach to political news. www.slowboring.com/p/political-... I see it as basically the ESPN-ification of internet political commentary, which used to be the serious counterpoint to dumb cable shows

I'm not going to jump to any conclusions re: Louise Lucas. We don't have the facts yet. But the problem with living under would-be authoritarians is that you can't *presume* good faith. In fact, in this government your priors should lean more towards assuming abuse of power until proven otherwise.

We are watching the worst assault on multiracial democracy since the Pettus bridge. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/u...

Excellent point from @smotus.bsky.social. I would add a recommendation for a little-known book making exactly this argument... www.amazon.com/Reactionary-... smotus.substack.com/p/racial-bac...

The president is instructing American Jews on proper patriotic religious practice, which (according to him) means participating in a “shabbat” event led by a Christian organization

5 year old when I say we’re watching Star Wars: “are we watching one with Darth Vader?” Me: Yes Five year old: ”Good. Those are the best ones.” I’m so proud.

I've spent years arguing that Trump is a dire threat to democracy. The White House has blamed people like me for the WHCD shooting attempt. So I decided to test their claims by talking to five leading researchers on political violence. And I learned a lot (THREAD) www.vox.com/politics/487...

If you're a young leftist looking for an inspirational model for politics and can't come up with anyone better than Stalin or Mao I'm going to encourage you to read a second book.

I've been resisting it, but I think I've been @leedrutman.bsky.social pilled on proportional representation for america. It doesn't prevent democratic backsliding in all countries — and can sometimes facilitate it. But it seems like a uniquely appropriate solution for the US' current problems.

This is ten times the median Hungarian income

This interview with Adam Przeworski is one of the best things I've read on democratic backsliding in a long time. www.populismstudies.org/professor-pr...

You should read @rachelkleinfeld.bsky.social, who is one of *the* experts on political violence in the US rachelkleinfeld.substack.com/p/political-...

As it becomes increasingly obvious that this administration is flailing, I think we can we say there were two moments of peak danger for US democracy so far: 1) The initial DOGE blitz on separation of powers 2) The free speech crackdown after Charlie Kirk Interesting to reflect on why both failed.

My colleague @ericlevitz.bsky.social has Hasan Piker dead to rights www.vox.com/politics/486...

It is objectively bad for democracy that both blue and red states are doing extreme gerrymanders. But the only feasible solution — a national ban on partisan gerrymandering — has only been endorsed by one party. And it's not the one complaining about Virginia right now.

If you're still interested in the Hungarian election — which you should be! — I'm doing a panel at Penn today at 3. We'll talk about what happened, what the stakes for Hungarian democracy are, and what this says about the global far-right project. Watch here: upennmeeting-edu.zoom.us/j/96282978519

🎙️ON AIR: We're talking to @vox.com's @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social, @utoronto.ca's @lucanway.bsky.social and @npr.org's @franklangfitt.bsky.social about Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orbán's electoral defeat and the limits of MAGA populism. ❓What's your reaction to Orbán's defeat? 📻 Listen:

"Give the 'democratic backsliding experts' a well-deserved W, and thank God that our system proved strong enough to resist. Then add an extra thanks that Hungary can say the same." www.astralcodexten.com/p/orban-was-...

I hadn't watched Benny in a while, but it's striking how much he has tailored his speaking style to sound like Tucker Carlson. The pauses, the cadence, the intonation: it genuinely sounds like he's trying to be do a Tucker impersonation. Which tracks, as Benny is a notorious plagiarist.

I thought this strain of atrocity-apologist leftism, the tankie/campist tendency, was so irrelevant it could ignored. Unfortunately, some recent developments suggest otherwise.

It is crazymaking to listen to the right claim Orban's loss means he was never an authoritarian when people in Hungary feared that opposing him would immiserate their families www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/o...

A far more subtle take by @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social www.vox.com/politics/485...

“The threat was overcome after 16 years with massive concerted effort, therefore there was never a threat” is just bizarre logic.

Zach gets it exactly right. Orban was an authoritarian who built a rigged election system for his own gain. But Peter Magyar cracked the code - realizing that every vote in the countryside was worth two to three votes in the cities and so racked up countryside support, winning 2/3rds of the seats.

Watching Budapest fall in 2026 is for national conservatives what watching Budapest fall in 1956 was for reform communists.

Yes. ”Silver bullet” thinking is the wrong method for identifying general lessons here

Good thread. To also note: there's a broad spectrum of "competitive authoritarianism", and Hungary is still at the "softer"/more democratic end of where the term is applied

A lot of Orbán's American fans are saying that this election proved he was never an authoritarian in the first place. This is completely wrong — and, in fact, betrays a complete misunderstanding of both Hungarian politics and modern authoritarianism. Here's why.

Also, in a true democracy no party needs to win the vote by a supermajority to get control of government. No one should be complacent about the uneven playing field of competitive authoritarianism.

Here's the (nearly) final total:

Useful idiots hardest hit

Magyar has called on the national president to resign so that the new parliament can elected a new president. (Orban amended the law on the presidency in December to make it impossible for the parliament to impeach the president.) If Sulyok stays, he can act as roadblock for the new govt.

The thing to watch right now: whether the opposition wins two-thirds of seats in Hungary’s parliament. If they don’t, then the Orbán regime will likely survive. If they do, then there is a chance - maybe even a good one - that Hungarian democracy could come back to life. www.vox.com/politics/485...

I've spent nearly a decade covering the regime in Hungary. Extraordinary to see a popular rejection so decisive that even Orbán felt forced to bow to it.

Yes. So many people who don’t understand Hungarian politics are going to blow this story today

I've been reporting on Hungary for nearly a decade now, and it makes it really easy to see when others in the American press make fundamental errors in how they cover the election and its true stakes. Some of them are really bad!

The polling shows Viktor Orbán going down to defeat. But will he allow that to happen? www.vox.com/politics/485...

The range of possibilities in Iran currently is massive, ranging from a return to even-bloodier war to a joint US-Iranian protection racket in the Strait of Hormuz. The one thing that unites all of this outcomes? They're all worse — much worse — than the status quo ex ante.

Genocidal language

I think there has to be room for criticizing Israel between what Piker does (which is antisemitism) & where Mona draws the line, but I am aligned with the broad strokes here Hasan’s language and behavior are bad & they suggest he’s mostly a bully and a narcissist. He’s no ally to liberal democracy

I didn’t write the article my dude, nor are those my opinions

Hasan Piker is showing us what genuine left-wing illiberalism looks like www.thebulwark.com/p/why-democr...

The scene at DC No Kings. The protest song about “Freaky Steve” Miller kinda slaps

If the war ends like this, Iran will have won

I enjoyed this conversation by @sean-d-illing.bsky.social with @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social — one of the few journalists who truly understands the current threat of the far right.