Written by Nayyera Haq

Illustration by Rob Dobi

Jan. 13, 2023

When you visit the Colosseum in Rome, after you pass the security fence and military guards, you can see the original columns and archways weve copied into our architecture here in the United States. Four years ago, I visited the ruins of ancient Rome with my family: my parents, who were shaped by life under a military dictatorship; my husband, the descendent of enslaved Black people; and our toddler, the heir to all of these pieces of world and American history.

While a guide explained how the Colosseum was the scene of violent entertainment and the physical embodiment of panem et circenses the powerful strategy of distracting people from political engagement with bread and circuses my parents nodded sagely, my husband scoped out the exits to escape the theoretical mob, and I fervently hoped my boy wasnt absorbing anything other than sunshine and culture.

You dont have to go back to the Roman Republic or dust off your pre-World War II history lessons to see how democracies crumble.

Its happening now: in Hungary, where the liberal world order was the de facto state religion, and in India, considered the worlds largest pluralist democracy. Where the rule of law was once valued as a way to navigate the challenges of different people living in close proximity, now ethnonationalism and the rule of me dominate political and social spaces.

In both of these countries, as in the United States, leaders insist they are only fulfilling the promise of democracy.

Democracies dont die in darkness. They crumble, then fade, in broad daylight, with the tacit support of the people.