Ideas The three ingredients in an autocrat's recipe for power
May 16, 2025
Peter Biro, a Canadian legal scholar and advocate for democracy, shares insights on the three alarming ingredients of autocratic power: fear, habituation, and 'stupidification.' He discusses the current decline of liberal democracy, particularly in Canada and the U.S., highlighting misinformation and civic indifference as critical threats. Biro emphasizes the power of average citizens to combat democratic backsliding through education and active engagement, portraying the 'heroic citizen' as key to preserving democratic values in a challenging landscape.
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Democracy's Three Key Killers
- Fear, habituation, and stupidification form the three core ingredients in the decline of liberal democracy.
- These factors transform citizens from agents of accountability into passive "useful idiots."
Fear as Democracy's Suppressor
- Fear is the most efficient tool to suppress democracy and paralyze citizens.
- It causes compliance, inaction, and disengagement across various societal groups.
Argentina’s Fear Delayed Justice
- After Argentina’s dictatorship, widespread fear delayed justice for decades.
- Citizens feared reprisals, violence, and ostracism, delaying national reckoning until 2006.
