Zack Beauchamp

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

I would bet a decent amount of money this is wrong — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

RT @mehdirhasan: #mustread — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

RT @leedrutman: Important thread, crucial article -> — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

RT @perrybaconjr: An ominous story. But one you should definitely read. It goes beyond the worries about democracy to lay out some future s… — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

This thread is just a sampling of the piece, which gets into much more detail on we could end up with a more violent and authoritarian America — and how this might be stopped. Please read the whole thing: https://t.co/kxPElRox4y — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

The problem, though, is that this kind of fundamental reform seems unthinkable given current partisan divisions. The only thing that seems likely to change anything is an extreme shock, maybe something even worse than January 6. This is perhaps my most pessimistic conclusion. https://t.co/gaIhIeFJrQ — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

There is a more hopeful future — in which Americans choose to break our political deadlock by changing the system. Some of the best ideas for how to do this can be found in @leedrutman's book Breaking the Two Party Doom Loop https://t.co/6zhttWXvlC — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

In yet another scenario, the violence so unsettles Democrats that they give up on racial egalitarianism — turning against immigration and Black civil rights while scapegoating China for America's problems — Cold War 2.0 https://t.co/jgfTYZ2ge6 — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

In another scenario, sustained political violence and dysfunction sets the stage for an authoritarian takeover of a different kind — an executive seizing dictatorial powers, a kind of democratic collapse we've seen many times in Latin America https://t.co/4vDF0Vx1P9 — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

In one scenario, Washington becomes Budapest-on-the-Potomac. Republicans embrace an authoritarian model pioneered in Hungary, and successfully change laws to lock Democrats out of power https://t.co/JEQJ07n4Qh — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

But this violence is not an endpoint. In fact, it's likely to kick off a deeper transformation of the system — perhaps even collapsing democracy altogether. https://t.co/kxPElRox4y — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

So what happens next? In the immediate term, the most likely outcome is more major violence and conflict surrounding elections — regardless of which party wins. https://t.co/EI0ZW7D130 — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

At the same time, and for similar reasons, the risk of political violence is on the rise. @bfwalter, one of the world's leading scholars of civil wars, identified four warning signs that a country is at risk of them. All four are present in the United States today. https://t.co/FVRxUujB2I — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

Most of the examples come from the developing world, weaker and newer democracies. The track record isn't promising: countries that experience "pernicious polarization" tend to collapse into authoritarianism https://t.co/kxPElRox4y https://t.co/213aSr6uw7 — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

In the developed world, the only countries that have experienced anything similar are France in 1968 — when the government nearly collapsed amidst riots — and Italy during the "Years of Lead," roughly 15 years of deadly political violence. — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

First, we have to appreciate what's happening. The United States is in the throes of "pernicious polarization" — a term from @jlynnmccoy that refers to the division of society into hostile social camps. This isn't normal. In fact, what's happening in the US is *unprecedented.* https://t.co/eXKHSl60sB — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

I am an optimist by nature. But I have spent the past few months digging into the research about democracy and civil conflict, and it has made me profoundly worried about where the country is heading. Here's why. https://t.co/kxPElRox4y — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

@imillhiser oh yes glenn loury is very famous — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

@imillhiser source https://t.co/ROmnRbpWVr — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

@DavidAstinWalsh sorry friend — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

RT @mcopelov: 👇👍 💯 In which, among other things, @zackbeauchamp talks to and about all the comparative and IR scholars, whose decades of s… — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

This is how the crisis of American democracy ends https://t.co/kxPElRox4y — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

I have spent the past few months digging into the political science literature on polarization, civil war, and democratic collapse. This is what I learned on how America’s crisis might end — and what comes next. https://t.co/PvBaAzKlgT — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

@tweetsofhank I’m afraid that’s what’s going to happen — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

@tweetsofhank Are you really a Cowboys fan if you don’t have blind hope in a team that always disappoints — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

Alright Cowboys, just got to get 11 points in 6:40 on a night where our offense has been terrible. We can do this, totally — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

RT @janecoaston: Ah. — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

@janecoaston I remember the tantrum she threw after I accurately reported her NatCon comments on this, wonder how she’ll try to cover this time — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

Yet here I am, distracted and mad about something objectively unimportant, when I should be playing with my daughter for the last precious minutes of 2021 before she goes to bed. This site is not healthy! — PolitiTweet.org

Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp

Like objectively it doesn’t matter that Sam Harris continues to opine on philosophy without spending a single second actually learning about it, but no this is not a thing worth being mad about on New Year’s Eve — PolitiTweet.org