Card #15: Democracy or Autocracy

What’s at Stake for You in Election 2024?

Our Democratic Republic

This election presents a choice between two different visions for America: one of freedom and opportunity, and the other, oppressive and bleak. It’s a decision between maintaining our democracy or succumbing to autocracy.

Our country is a democratic republic. As such, 

• We are governed by laws, not by a single person or elite group of people. This is known as the “rule of law.” Under the law, all persons are equal.
• All citizens (except, in some states, those convicted of felonies) have the right to vote in free and fair elections and to have a say in how we are governed. 
• Our rights are protected by our Constitution, though work remains to restore and ensure some of our freedoms.
• We have the right to speak freely in writing, art, music, and theater, and even in opposition to the government or governmental policies. 
• We have equal rights to education and economic opportunity and are free to worship (or not) as we choose. Minority religions are protected.
• The law is not a political tool used to oppress certain groups of people, stifle free speech, or exact revenge on political opponents. 
• Within the bounds of the law, we have the right to decide how and where we live and who we love. The government doesn’t make those decisions for us. 

     Project 2025’s Autocracy

This election presents a choice between two different visions for America: one of freedom and opportunity, and the other, oppressive and bleak. It’s a decision between maintaining our democracy or succumbing to autocracy.

The Republican platform set forth in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 and Trump’s Agenda 47 includes the following key traits that autocracies and dictatorships share: 

• All government officials must be completely loyal to the leader(s). Project 2025 proposes replacing thousands of our government employees with loyalists. 
• Elections may take place, but with the outcome predetermined and manipulated by the leader(s) through disinformation and lies. Some people are denied the right to vote. 
• Free speech, especially in opposition to the government, is not tolerated. The press is censored or taken over by loyalists. Books are banned. 
• The government has at its head a strongman leader or select group with unlimited power.
• Ethnic, religious, and gender minorities have fewer rights and are described as bad for the country (poisoning the blood…).  Mass detention of minorities is common. 
• The government controls access to education and economic opportunity. Religious beliefs are prescribed by the government.   
• Violence and the law are used as political weapons. Opponents of the leader(s), including the media, are harassed, targeted for revenge, and often imprisoned or killed.