J
JDs Couch
Well-known member
Authoritarian Consolidation or Proto-Fascist Shift (2025–2035)
Between 2025 and 2027, executive power expands through decrees and loyalty appointments. Opposition media and universities face intimidation and funding cuts. Disinformation dominates public discourse. Courts and government agencies become politicized, and dissenting judges or civil servants are removed. Several states pass increasingly restrictive laws that limit protest, voting, reproductive, and gender rights.
From 2028 to 2030, elections continue to occur but are no longer genuinely competitive. Voter suppression, gerrymandering, and manipulation of vote counts make results effectively predetermined. Political violence increases around election periods, and armed militias act as unofficial enforcers for one side. Federal agencies begin investigating or prosecuting political opponents. Mainstream parties fracture, with one becoming completely loyal to a single charismatic leader. Civil liberties erode quickly, and many journalists and organizations self-censor out of fear.
By 2031 to 2035, open dissent becomes risky or punishable. Judicial independence effectively ends as courts are stacked with loyalists. Federal and state governments coordinate propaganda and messaging to maintain control. Citizenship rights become conditional on loyalty or identity. Foreign policy turns isolationist and militaristic, with the government framing external and internal enemies as threats to national survival.
The likely outcome is that the United States becomes a competitive authoritarian regime, or in the worst case, a soft fascist state. Elections technically exist but have no meaning. Opposition parties are symbolic. Violence and loyalty replace the rule of law as the foundation of political power.
Between 2025 and 2027, executive power expands through decrees and loyalty appointments. Opposition media and universities face intimidation and funding cuts. Disinformation dominates public discourse. Courts and government agencies become politicized, and dissenting judges or civil servants are removed. Several states pass increasingly restrictive laws that limit protest, voting, reproductive, and gender rights.
From 2028 to 2030, elections continue to occur but are no longer genuinely competitive. Voter suppression, gerrymandering, and manipulation of vote counts make results effectively predetermined. Political violence increases around election periods, and armed militias act as unofficial enforcers for one side. Federal agencies begin investigating or prosecuting political opponents. Mainstream parties fracture, with one becoming completely loyal to a single charismatic leader. Civil liberties erode quickly, and many journalists and organizations self-censor out of fear.
By 2031 to 2035, open dissent becomes risky or punishable. Judicial independence effectively ends as courts are stacked with loyalists. Federal and state governments coordinate propaganda and messaging to maintain control. Citizenship rights become conditional on loyalty or identity. Foreign policy turns isolationist and militaristic, with the government framing external and internal enemies as threats to national survival.
The likely outcome is that the United States becomes a competitive authoritarian regime, or in the worst case, a soft fascist state. Elections technically exist but have no meaning. Opposition parties are symbolic. Violence and loyalty replace the rule of law as the foundation of political power.
