The Republic Is Not Yet Lost

How institutions, law, and civic culture still hold tools to resist authoritarian capture, if we choose to use them

Nine months into Trump’s second term, the machinery of a militarized executive is being assembled with alarming speed—purges at DOJ, loyalty tests in the military, and open threats against political opponents. The message is clear: dissent will be punished, and resistance is futile. But that, too, is part of the deception. The effort to intimidate us into silence, to convince the public that democracy is already lost and that nothing can be done, is itself a tactic of control. In truth, we are still far from the point of no return.

Authoritarianism does not begin with violence. It begins with symbols—loyalty oaths, staged arrests, and the corrosion of shared meaning. These rituals are designed to intimidate, to make repression feel inevitable, and to erode the public’s sense of what is lawful, normal, or true. But symbolic power depends on belief. When exposed, it loses force.

The military, often invoked in authoritarian fantasies, remains one of the least pliable instruments of executive power. Its internal culture is shaped not by personal loyalty but by constitutional oath. Officers are trained to resist unlawful orders, and the institution itself is governed by norms of civilian control and apolitical service. Attempts to politicize the ranks—whether through purges, loyalty tests, or domestic deployments—have historically met resistance. The Posse Comitatus Act still bars federal troops from acting as domestic police, and while the Insurrection Act offers loopholes, its use is fraught with legal and political risk. The military is not a private army, and will not move easily.

These constraints are not just legal—they are cultural. Institutions like the military carry embedded norms, rituals, and memory. Their resistance to unlawful orders is shaped by generations of training, internal mythologies, and the legacy of past overreach. Structural inertia is not weakness. It is armor.

The federal courts remain a contested but consequential line of defense. While appointments have tilted the bench, judicial independence is not easily erased. Judges are bound by precedent, insulated by lifetime tenure, and empowered by the Constitution to review and reject unlawful actions. In recent years, courts have blocked travel bans, immigration raids, and executive overreach—even under pressure. The appellate courts, in particular, have shown a willingness to check power when legal boundaries are crossed. The judiciary is not immune to politicization, but it is not yet compliant.

Congress remains a slow-moving but consequential check. Although the president may direct existing forces, he cannot invent new ones. Congressional oversight also remains. Its hearings, subpoenas, and investigations can expose abuse and stall momentum. Even a fractured Congress can delay, obstruct, and complicate authoritarian ambitions. The machinery of consolidation requires fuel, and Congress still holds the tap.

State and local governments also remain structurally independent, and still have many tools that may be brought to bear. Governors control their National Guard units unless federalized, and local law enforcement is not under federal command. Elections are administered at the state level, and legal challenges to federal overreach often begin in state courts. Attorneys general can sue the federal government, refuse cooperation, and enforce their own standards. These are not symbolic powers. They are operational constraints, and they have been used before.

Civil society remains a bulwark, and independent media continues to function as a check. Independent journalism still exposes corruption, abuse, and lies across administrations. Watchdog organizations file lawsuits, track ethics violations, and mobilize public accountability. These actors do not hold formal power, but they shape public perception, document misconduct, and create friction. They are not easily silenced, and they do not require permission to act.

Whistleblowers remain protected by law, and internal resistance still exists. Bureaucracies are slow to bend, and not all civil servants are willing to carry out unlawful orders. Leaks, refusals, and quiet sabotage have disrupted authoritarian ambitions before. These acts are rarely dramatic, but they accumulate. They slow the machinery, expose its workings, and remind us that not everyone inside the system is complicit.

None of these constraints happen automatically. They require us to activate them. The tools of resistance are still there in our laws and institutions, but they depend on the public will to use them. The danger is not just in what the president attempts, but in what the public accepts. Authoritarianism feeds on resignation, on the belief that nothing can be done. That belief is false. Resistance should not be a partisan battle. Tyranny leaves us all its victims.

Suggested Readings

Ackerman, Bruce. We the People: The Civil Rights Revolution. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014.

Ben-Ghiat, Ruth. Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present. New York: W.W. Norton, 2020.

Finchelstein, Federico. The Wannabe Fascists: A Guide to Understanding the Authoritarian Threat. New York: Verso, 2024.

Kendall-Taylor, Andrea, Erica Frantz, and Joseph Wright. How Dictatorships Work: Power, Personalization, and Collapse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022.

Levitsky, Steven, and Daniel Ziblatt. How Democracies Die. New York: Crown, 2018.

Refer, Adam. Resisting Authoritarianism: How to Activate Civil Society’s Pillars of Support. Washington, D.C.: Horizons Project, 2023.

Scott, James C. Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990.

Snyder, Timothy. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. New York: Tim Duggan Books, 2017.