ITHACA, NEW YORK – In January 1934, the New York Times published an essay by journalist Harold Callender on a new phenomenon sweeping Nazi Germany: Gleichschaltung. Literally translated as “coordination,” the term had acquired a far darker meaning — the systematic Nazification of German society. Callender’s piece would prove to be one of the era’s most prescient warnings about the collapse of democracy and rise of totalitarianism.
Democracy, which first emerged in 5th-century B.C. Athens, marked a radical leap for humankind. In its modern form, with the Enlightenment as its handmaiden, it spread across continents, taking root in future powers like the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries and in countries such as India, newly freed from the yoke of colonial rule, in the 20th. Yet despite its reach and resilience, democracy has always remained deeply fragile.
We often assume that the gravest threats to democracy are wars, coups or other dramatic crises. But as Callender’s essay reminds us, democratic breakdown does not require a sudden shock. An electoral democracy can gradually drift toward dictatorship, step by step, until it reaches the point of no return.
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