The Democratic Party, despite its name, has been too timid in defending the rule of law and other core ideals of U.S. government in the face of an increasingly authoritarian President Donald Trump and Republican Party. But Democratic politicians aren’t the only ones falling short. There are too few people in leadership roles at churches, corporations, labor unions, news organizations, universities and other key U.S. institutions forcefully denouncing Trump’s actions and organizing against him.

That’s the argument of Harvard University political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, authors of “How Democracies Die.” Their book, released in 2018, likened Trump to leaders abroad who eroded democracy in their countries. It warned the same could happen in the United States and became essential reading for Trump’s opponents during his first term. Having two White male Harvard professors echo its arguments probably helped Resistance 1.0 be taken more seriously.

With Trump back in office and even more radical now, the authors are again deeply concerned. “We are no longer living in a democratic regime,” Levitsky recently told NPR. In his and other scholars’ view, Trump has pushed the United States into “competitive authoritarianism,” the term in political science for countries that have elections but also a ruling party rigging everything in its favor.

Ten years into Trump’s rise, the dangers are clear. So I reached out to Levitsky and Ziblatt last week for their perspectives on a more complicated question: How is resistance to this administration going so far?

Photo by Nicholas Pfosi/Reuters courtesy of The Washington Post.