Autocracy Watch

    I chose "Autocracy Watch" for a title and when I searched, just now, for that phrase, I learned that it is used by the political scientist, Yascha Mounk. Apparently his "Autocracy Watch"  "analyzes the state of democracy and potential shifts toward authoritarianism in the United States and globally."
   Back in October, 2025, the New York Times introduced an "Autocracy Index" which includes a dozen signposts as indicators of "democratic erosion".  They are worth noting, as is the fact that there seem to be more organizations and institutions "on watch" these days. 

The Autocracy Index
   The 12 "Markers of Democratic Erosion" are listed here:

Stifling speech and dissent

Persecuting political opponents

Bypassing the legislature

Defying the courts

Declaring false emergencies

Using the military at home

Vilifying marginalized groups

Controlling information

Trying to take over universities

Creating a cult of personality

Using power for personal profit

Manipulating the law to stay in power

  The "Autocracy Index" presents these "Markers" and assigns numbers to them.  A zero (on the left side in the picture of the Index below), represents the state of democracy in the U.S. before Trump. Ten on the right side indicates a "true autocracy, such as China, Iran or Russia." The Times will be assessing these markers and moving them as they change. Some have already been moved and unfortunately, they are headed right - that is, in the wrong direction. The screen grab below was done in February, 2026:

  If you are a subscriber to the NYT it will be interesting to note any changes in "The Autocracy Index".  If you are not, I will let you know if there are major developments. But, in any case, it is useful to have a clear list of the markers to which we should pay more attention. 

   A reminder of the importance of following more closely, the threatening political developments was noted in an article this morning. The author writes that many Germans in Berlin in the 1940s witnessed bad things "and yet most people looked away, pretending to see nothing, and carried on with their lives. Why? As is so often the case under autocratic regimes, from Hitler’s Berlin to Mussolini’s Rome to Vladimir Putin’s Moscow, things go from bad to worse in stages. Today’s outrage is tomorrow’s normal. People adapt and get used to it."
(From: "Historians Confirm: Tomorrow Won’t Be Better Than Today," Ian Buruma, NYT, Feb. 22, 2026.)

Sources:
   More information about autocracies is found in indices related to the levels of democracy. The Economist Intelligence Unit publishes one as does Statista. Their latest one for the U.S., done in November, 2025 noted that:

  "The level of democracy in the United States decreased since 2006. The reasons for this are manifold, but decreasing trust in elected officials, prohibitively high costs associated with running for office, as well as increasing voting restrictions are among the reasons. Nevertheless, the United States remains a democracy based on its index score of 7.85 in 2024. Countries are given a score from 0 to 10 with scores closer to 10 meaning the country is more democratic."

Well Poisoning: 
  On the environmental front things are also not well. This headline, from Feb. 9, and the following more recent ones are all you need for sources:

  "Trump Allies Near ‘Total Victory’ in Wiping Out U.S. Climate Regulation:

A small group of conservative activists has worked for 16 years to stop all government efforts to fight climate change. Their efforts seem poised to pay off,"

By Lisa Friedman and Maxine Joselow," NYT, Feb.9, 2026.

and:

   "Trump Order Aims to Boost Weedkiller Targeted in Health Lawsuits

An executive order aimed at ramping up production of glyphosate set off alarms among supporters of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.", By Hiroko Tabuchi and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, NYT, Feb.18,

and:
 "MAHA Moms Turn Against Trump: ‘Women Feel Like They Were Lied To’:

 President Trump’s executive order aimed at spurring production of a pesticide has infuriated leaders of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA movement", 

By Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Hiroko Tabuchi, NYT, Feb. 19, 2026.
Maybe this is actually a bit of good news:

   "When Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threw his support behind Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign for the White House, his corps of health conscious, mostly female, followers embraced the president, who pledged to address Americans’ concerns about “toxins in our environments and pesticides in our food.”

  Some of the women, who call themselves the MAHA Moms after Mr. Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement, abandoned the Democratic Party to vote for Mr. Trump.

   But the executive order Mr. Trump issued Wednesday to increase domestic production of glyphosate — a widely used weedkiller and possible carcinogen that has been the target of thousands of lawsuits, including one brought by Mr. Kennedy — stunned and infuriated the activists.

It now threatens to turn the brief MAHA-Trump marriage into a divorce."