Political scientist Dr. Lucan Ahmad Way—Distinguished Professor of Democracy at the University of Toronto and co-author of “Competitive Authoritarianism” and “Revolution and Dictatorship”—joins me to unpack how democracies erode from the inside. Way’s work on hybrid regimes has shaped the way scholars think about democratic backsliding around the world.

Books mentioned:

“Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War” (2010)

“Pluralism by Default: Weak Autocrats and the Rise of Competitive Politics” (2015)

“Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism” (2022)

📖 Video Chapters

0:43 – Episode Intro – Introducing Dr. Lucan Way and His Two Landmark Books

1:46 – Intellectual Roots – Lucan Way’s Journey from California to Moscow

3:39 – Birth of “Competitive Authoritarianism” & The Deep-Dive Writing Process

5:53 – Can Political Science Be a Science?

6:24 – Competitive Authoritarianism Explained

7:42 – Democracies Backsliding: Hungary, India, Turkey & More

8:55 – Is the United States Already Competitive Authoritarian?

11:56 – The “Cost of Opposition” in a Tilted Playing Field

13:43 – Chilling Donors & Law-Firm Fears: Real-World Impacts

14:17 – Pushback: Can U.S. Institutions Still Halt Authoritarian Drift?

15:34 – Why a Second Trump Term Would Be Radically Different

17:15 – Second-Term Power: Loyalists & Scope for Abuse

17:42 – Ignoring Court Orders: A Brewing Constitutional Showdown

19:18 – Does Democracy Require More Than Two Parties?

20:50 – “Both Sides” Pushback: Cancel Culture vs State Retribution

22:24 – Lawfare & the Stormy Daniels Hush-Money Case

22:50 – Lawfare & the First “Mainstream” Targeting of Opposition

23:38 – False-Positive? Addressing the “You’re Seeing What You Want” Critique

24:58 – From Nixon to Now: Why Today’s University Crackdown Is Unprecedented

25:44 – The Authoritarian Blueprint: Purging the Civil Service

26:56 – Elon Musk vs. “Big Government”: Bureaucracy’s Role in Democracy

28:25 – Musk’s Loyalists Invade Federal Agencies

29:50 – Constitution Breached: Bureaucracy Under Siege

30:45 – Why Democracy Needs an Independent Civil Service

32:05 – Mass Firings & the “Startup Nation” Fallacy

33:30 – U.S. Wealth, Trump’s Unpopularity & Reasons for Hope

33:46 – Courts Ignored: An Openly Anti-Constitutional Administration

34:46 – Is the Crisis Transient? Optimism vs. “We’re Not Out of the Woods”

35:28 – Competitive Authoritarian Regimes Fluctuate: Historical Patterns

36:02 – What It Means for Canada: Defending Democracy & Fact-Based Media

37:18 – Film Pick: All the President’s Men (1976)

Enjoy the conversation, share your thoughts in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe for more deep dives.

America’s Slide into Competitive Authoritarianism | Dr. Lucan Way