In military coups, the generals take over from one day to the next. Civilian presidents, when they declare martial law, assume emergency powers and start immediately ruling like dictators. But the more common method of destroying a democracy these days is through death by a thousand cuts. Elected leaders only gradually undermine democratic institutions and accumulate more executive power. One day, voila, the democracy is fatally compromised, and no one can point to a single act that transform...
