If you're reading this, you're still breathing. But don't let that fool you.

American democracy is dying—in slow motion—and a panel of democracy scholars just lit up the scoreboard. The Authoritarian Threat Index is flashing red.

This isn’t a prediction. It's a diagnosis.

What's This Index, Anyway?

Every weekday, ~1,000 scholars track how close U.S. democracy is to turning into something else—something authoritarian.

They rate six danger zones:

• Media manipulation
• Executive power grabs
• Election subversion
• Erosion of civil liberties
• Civil violence
• Authoritarian rhetoric

They synthesize those into one pulse-check metric—0 to 5 scale.
If democracy were a patient—they just called time of death.

We're at "Severe Threat": 3.3⁄5

Let that sink in.

Not average.

Not "meh".

Severe.

Media is ground zero for lies. Courts get shoved aside. Rights get bulldozed. Violence edges into normalcy.

In the minds of the experts, this is the cliff’s edge.

Midterm Politics Shivered the Curve—But Didn’t Save Us

The 2022 midterms gave a momentary cooldown. Threat levels dipped to their lowest since 2017.

But guess what?

That’s not a victory lap. It's a breath before the fall.

Because the odds of democratic collapse in the next four years? Still sit at nearly 20%.

The scariest part? That number isn't abstract—it’s real enough to demand marshals on the ground.

This Index? It’s Radar, Not Panic Porn

This isn’t meant to freak you out.

It’s meant to wake you up.

Protect Democracy is tracking the kill move before it lands. They’re launching lawsuits, stirring up legislation, crafting coalitions shaped by this threat scoring.

This is tactical clarity. Not hand-wringing.

TL;DR

• The threat index says democracy is in the "severe" zone.
• It scores media attacks, broken institutions, violence, systemic rot.
• Midterm politics eased the curve—but not the trajectory.
• Experts still see a significant chance of collapse within four years.
• This index is the radar reading. How we act next is mission critical.

What You Do Now

This isn’t an article.

This is an assignment.

• Monitor the index.
• Learn the authoritarian playbook.
• Fight with clarity, not hysteria.
• Build, lobby, vote, resist. Institution by institution.

They turned the siren on.
Now we have to act.