Dismantling a Democracy: Block by Block

Originally publishes on Substack at: https://charlie45.substack.com/p/dismantling-a-democracy-block-by

The apocryphal tale of the frog in boiling water, though biologically inaccurate, endures as a cautionary metaphor. It warns against complacency in the face of creeping danger. In the context of contemporary American politics, the story has an unsettling relevancy. As the Trump administration’s tenure has unfolded, actions that might once have sparked national outrage have been met instead with a collective shrug, or at best, fragmented protest. The threat from this administration is not so much the scale of one transgression—although the current mass deportation operations by ICE are large-scale and, in some cases, horrific—but the cumulative effect of small, persistent erosions of democratic norms.

Shredding the Constitution

From day one, the administration has been chipping away at the Constitution, beginning with the January 20, 2025, Executive Order 14160, which aimed to end birthright citizenship status for children born to parents who are undocumented immigrants, or who are in the U.S. temporarily, such as those on student or tourist visas. This action is an attempt to amend the Constitution by executive order. It ignores the Fourteenth Amendment, which states in Section 1, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. . . .” The right to birthright citizenship has been considered settled law since it was ratified over 150 years ago. There have been legal challenges to this executive order, and the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the legality and constitutionality of the president’s move.

Nowhere is the threat to the Constitution more vivid, though, than the administration’s approach to immigration and the treatment of undocumented individuals. On June 27, 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a streamlined process for fining ‘illegal aliens’, eliminating the 30-day notice of intent to fine before a fine is issued, and shortening the process for those who contest the penalties. In July, The Heritage Foundation published an article stating that undocumented immigrants are not entitled to due process as enshrined in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. This is yet another creative interpretation of the Constitution, and an effort to amend it through executive action rather than the constitutional amendment process.

The Constitution, in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, clearly enshrines due process, a safeguard meant to ensure that no person is deprived of liberty or exiled without fair procedures. To suspend this right for any group sets a dangerous precedent, suggesting that constitutional protections are conditional, not inalienable.

The rationale that has been offered is often a manufactured emergency; the claim that a surge in border crossings required extraordinary measures. But the suspension of due process for undocumented immigrants opens the door to abuses that could, if unchallenged, be extended to other groups. This threatens to normalize the idea that fundamental rights can be abridged at the whim of the executive branch.

Defying the Judiciary

Separation of powers is a keystone of American democracy. The judiciary serves, or is intended to serve, as a check on executive authority. During this administration, there have been numerous instances where court orders have been ignored or circumvented. In March, for example, the administration ignored a district court judge’s explicit order to turn two deportation flights around and return to the United States.

There has been a disturbing pattern of the administration appealing or evading judicial controls, rather than respecting them as binding. This signals a disregard for the notion that the executive branch is subject to the rule of law, undermining one of the cornerstones of democracy. Erosion of judicial authority corrodes public trust and sets a precedent that can empower future leaders to be even less respectful of legal constraints.

Threats against Political Rivals

Another sign of democratic decay is the weaponization of the judicial system against political rivals. Trump has, for example, called for a DOJ probe of former President Barack Obama, alleging falsely that the Obama administration manipulated intelligence related to Russian interference in the 2016 election. He also, without evidence, called for the prosecution of his 2024 rival, Kamala Harris, and several celebrities, such as Oprah Winfrey and Beyonce, claiming that the former vice president paid celebrities to endorse her during the presidential campaign.

The suggestion that a leader might use state power to prosecute and imprison opponents is a tactic more often associated with tinpot dictatorships than with one of the world’s oldest democracies. Such actions by a president have a chilling effect. It delegitimizes the opposition, signals to supporters that dissent is treasonous, and fosters an atmosphere of fear. Left unchecked, these threats become reality, transforming political life into a zero-sum game of ‘winner-takes-all, loser goes to jail.’ The stakes are not just policies, but personal freedom.

Attacks on the Media and Educational Institutions

Without a free and critical press, no democracy can long survive. Nor can independent thought be fostered without independent educational institutions. Throughout both terms, Trump has labeled the media ‘the enemy of the people,’ a phrase with dangerous historical echoes. Journalists have been threatened, ridiculed, and excluded from press briefings. The administration has sought to curtail funding for education programs and research, and, in a move that is all too much like an autocratic kleptocracy, demanded that universities pay huge sums to have their funding restored. For example, the administration is pushing UCLA to pay $1 billion as part of a settlement agreement to resolve alleged civil rights violations and force it to adopt significant changes in how it operates.

The sustained assault on media and educational institutions undermines the public sphere, eroding trust not just in the specific media outlets or universities, but in the idea of objective truth itself. When citizens no longer believe in the legitimacy of facts, the ground is laid for manipulation, propaganda, and, ultimately, the collapse of informed self-government.

Flirting with Dictatorship

Most alarming is the frequent suggestions, whether as a ‘joke’ or not, that Trump might seek a third term, in flagrant violation of the Twenty-Second Amendment. Even though he said in an August 3, 2025, interview with CNBC that he would ‘probably’ not run, such musings, coupled with his 2021 reluctance to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, signal an unsettling willingness to so openly toy with the boundaries of constitutional government. This emboldens those who follow him to do the same. His role in choosing his successor, and the way he is dealing with it, is depressingly similar to dictators in other countries.

Incremental destruction

There have been protests against specific actions, such as ICE raids, tariffs, and attacks on journalists, but too often, the overarching trend has gone unnoticed.

Democracy is not destroyed in a single dramatic action, but in a slow accretion of precedent. Each time an outrage is normalized, the temperature rises a degree. If these actions are not met with sustained resistance by courts, by Congress, or by the public, the danger is that future leaders will inherit a system already weakened and more vulnerable to outright authoritarianism.

The story of the ‘frog in boiling water’ might be apocryphal, but it is a call to vigilance against apathy and disengagement. The American experiment depends on citizens being alert to the incremental erosion of liberties. The question now is whether enough people will notice the water growing warmer before it’s too late.