Hacker News with Generative AI: Democracy

Harvard professor offers a grim assessment of American democracy (npr.org)
Steven Levitsky studies how healthy democracies can slip into authoritarianism. He says the Trump administration has already done grave damage: "We are no longer living in a democratic regime."
Politics, Democracy, Authoritarianism, USA
15 points by rbanffy 2 days ago | 0 comments
The "De" in "Decentralization" Stands for "Democracy" (techdirt.com)
There’s a certain dark irony in watching tech billionaires who built their empires on the “democratizing power of technology” now actively working to dismantle democratic institutions.
Decentralization, Technology, Politics, Democracy
9 points by nickcotter 8 days ago | 1 comments
The "De" in "Decentralization" Stands for "Democracy" (techdirt.com)
There’s a certain dark irony in watching tech billionaires who built their empires on the “democratizing power of technology” now actively working to dismantle democratic institutions.
Decentralization, Democracy, Technology, Big Tech, Politics
12 points by NotInOurNames 8 days ago | 2 comments
Two tipping points for officially becoming a dictatorship could occur this week (robertreich.substack.com)
The two tipping points for when we officially become a dictatorship could occur this week
Politics, United States, Democracy, Dictatorship
30 points by ndsipa_pomu 10 days ago | 16 comments
Bukele, Abrego Garcia, and Red Lines (thebulwark.com)
An emergency Sunday Triad, because I’m concerned that people don’t appreciate how important this week will be for American democracy and our constitutional order.
Politics, United States, Democracy, Constitution
23 points by josefresco 12 days ago | 3 comments
Chasing Shadows: Cyber espionage, subversion, and the global fight for democracy (chasingshadowsbook.ca)
In this real-life spy thriller, cyber security expert Ronald Deibert uncovers the unseemly marketplace for high-tech surveillance, professional disinformation, and computerized malfeasance.
Cybersecurity, Espionage, Politics, Global Affairs, Democracy
4 points by debo_ 20 days ago | 1 comments
What if we made advertising illegal? (simone.org)
What if we banned all advertising? Not regulate it—abolish it. This proposal would transform manipulation machines, and maybe save democracy itself. A thought experiment worth considering.
Advertising, Democracy, Thought Experiment, Regulation, Manipulation
1975 points by smnrg 20 days ago | 1387 comments
Hyperinflation Heralded the Fall of German Democracy (2023) (smithsonianmag.com)
“Conditions have taken a catastrophic turn here,” wrote Berlin resident Betty Scholem in an October 15, 1923, letter to her son. “This letter cost 15 million” marks to send, she added, and “it will be 30 million beginning the day after tomorrow.” She and her husband estimated their expenses in the billions as the monthly rate of inflation approached 30,000 percent.
History, Germany, Economics, Inflation, Democracy
51 points by joebig 21 days ago | 38 comments
What if we made advertising illegal? (simone.org)
What if we banned all advertising? Not regulate it—abolish it. This proposal would transform manipulation machines, and maybe save democracy itself. A thought experiment worth considering.
Advertising, Democracy, Thought Experiments, Ethics
8 points by zephyrfalcon 22 days ago | 10 comments
What If We Made Advertising Illegal? (simone.org)
What if we banned all advertising? Not regulate it—abolish it. This proposal would transform manipulation machines, and maybe save democracy itself. A thought experiment worth considering.
Advertising, Democracy, Thought Experiments
12 points by smnrg 24 days ago | 4 comments
The Demand Side of Democratic Backsliding (cambridge.org)
Why do citizens fail to punish political candidates who violate democratic standards at the ballot box?
Politics, Democracy, Political Science, Voter Behavior
6 points by PaulHoule 25 days ago | 3 comments
Six unsettling thoughts Eric Schmidt, Google's former CEO, has about AI (npr.org)
Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO, is thinking about artificial intelligence – how it interacts with humans, and how it may reshape democracy. Or replace it.
Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Society, Democracy
12 points by bookofjoe 26 days ago | 1 comments
On Tyranny [book] (timothysnyder.org)
The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.
Politics, History, Democracy, Totalitarianism, Books
58 points by pabs3 29 days ago | 20 comments
Wired is dropping paywalls for FOIA-based reporting. Others should follow (freedom.press)
The news business isn’t just any business — it serves a vital role in our democracy, recognized by the First Amendment. But media outlets can’t serve that role if they’re bankrupt. And as a result, news readers often find themselves blocked by paywalls from reading important stories about government business.
Journalism, Media, Democracy, Paywalls
447 points by healsdata 39 days ago | 74 comments
Taiwan is making democracy work again. It's time we paid attention (2019) (wired.com)
On March 18, 2014, a large crowd seethed around Taiwan’s parliament. Protestors fought off guards and kicked the doors of the building open, streaming onto the parliamentary floor.
Taiwan, Politics, Democracy, Protests
6 points by Tomte 41 days ago | 0 comments
India's Battle to Control the Democracy Narrative (theplankmag.com)
How the Modi government moved from improving its global democracy rankings to redefining democracy itself—turning narrative control into a governance strategy.
India, Politics, Democracy, Governance, International Relations
71 points by ethan_smith 45 days ago | 103 comments
Mahmoud Khalil's treatment should not happen in a democracy (theguardian.com)
Forced disappearance, kidnapping, political imprisonment – take your pick. These terms all describe what has happened with the Trump administration’s first arrest for thought crimes, something that should never happen in a democracy.
Politics, Human Rights, Democracy, Law
11 points by n1b0m 45 days ago | 16 comments
Francis Fukuyama Was Right About Liberal Democracy (newrepublic.com)
In 1989, Francis Fukuyama, a little-known Sovietologist and deputy director of the State Department’s Office of Policy Planning, published an article in a Washington journal, The National Interest, that made an audacious, epochal claim—that the world had reached “the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.”
Politics, History, Liberalism, Democracy
5 points by bryanrasmussen 46 days ago | 1 comments
How Silicon Valley's Corrupted Libertarianism Is Dismantling American Democracy (theunpopulist.net)
A shadow revolution is unfolding within the U.S. government. Inside Elon Musk’s DOGE, teams of young tech operatives are systematically dismantling democratic institutions and replacing them with proprietary artificial intelligence systems. Civil servants who raise legal objections are being removed. Government databases are being migrated to private servers. Decision-making power is being transferred from elected officials and career bureaucrats to algorithms controlled by a small network of Silicon Valley elites.
Politics, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Democracy
15 points by clumsysmurf 47 days ago | 3 comments
The Elon Musk Way: Move Fast and Destroy Democracy (theatlantic.com)
Silicon Valley’s titans have decided that ruling the digital world is not enough.
Elon Musk, Democracy, Technology, Politics, Silicon Valley
23 points by zfg 47 days ago | 2 comments
Contra Chrome: How Google's browser became a threat to privacy and democracy (contrachrome.com)
The online version of Scott McCloud’s original Chrome Comic from 2008 can be found at:
Google Chrome, Privacy, Democracy, Web Browsers, Technology
130 points by OuterVale 47 days ago | 86 comments
Why Techdirt Is Now a Democracy Blog (Whether We Like It or Not) (techdirt.com)
While political reporters are still doing their view-from-nowhere “Democrats say this, Republicans say that” dance, tech and legal journalists have been watching an unfortunately recognizable plan unfold — a playbook we’re all too familiar with.
Technology, Politics, Journalism, Media, Democracy
61 points by erentz 52 days ago | 12 comments
Brazilians hail strength of democracy as Bolsonaro is called to account (theguardian.com)
Brazilian democrats have celebrated the strength of their country’s judiciary and institutions after the former president Jair Bolsonaro was left facing political oblivion and jail time for allegedly plotting a coup, in stark contrast to the US’s failure to bring Donald Trump to justice for his anti-democratic acts.
Politics, Brazil, Democracy, Law, United States
31 points by PaulHoule 54 days ago | 9 comments
The Death of Competition in American Elections (nytimes.com)
A vast majority of 2024 races for Congress and state legislatures were decided by low-turnout or meaningless primaries. The trend is making politics more polarized and eroding public trust.
Politics, Elections, United States, Democracy
20 points by whack 61 days ago | 20 comments
The Path to American Authoritarianism (foreignaffairs.com)
Donald Trump’s first election to the presidency in 2016 triggered an energetic defense of democracy from the American establishment. But his return to office has been met with striking indifference. Many of the politicians, pundits, media figures, and business leaders who viewed Trump as a threat to democracy eight years ago now treat those concerns as overblown—after all, democracy survived his first stint in office. In 2025, worrying about the fate of American democracy has become almost passé.
Politics, United States, Authoritarianism, Democracy
77 points by pjmlp 72 days ago | 37 comments
South Korea's Democracy Saved Itself (2024) (carnegieendowment.org)
South Korea, Democracy, Politics, International Relations
64 points by huijzer 92 days ago | 75 comments
Korean democracy was nearly toppled by its president. It was saved by its people (theguardian.com)
Despite scandal after scandal, Koreans have shown their solidarity with one another, and the resilience of their institutions
Politics, Korea, Democracy, Social Movements
13 points by huijzer 92 days ago | 2 comments
Right populists deliberately undermining democracy with misinformation (uva.nl)
The spread of misinformation has emerged as a major concern in recent years. While research has long examined misinformation as a phenomenon resulting from the rise of social media, a new study from the University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam now suggests that misinformation should be understood as the result of a political strategy pursued by radical-right populist parties. The research was published in the International Journal of Press/Politics.
Politics, Misinformation, Democracy, Social Media
9 points by nabla9 93 days ago | 0 comments
The Day Instagram Blocked Democracy (docpop.org)
On the day of Trump’s second presidential inauguration, Instagram censored search results for the most popular hashtags associated with American Democrats, like “#Democrat”, “#PresidentBiden”, “#VoteBlue”, “#MichelleObama”, “#Kamala”, and dozens more.
Social Media, Censorship, Politics, Democracy
127 points by klez 94 days ago | 75 comments
Big tech is picking apart European democracy (theguardian.com)
Elon Musk’s latest attempts at direct political interference illustrate the grave danger that Europe is facing. He has suggested overthrowing the UK government, asking if “America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government”. Three days after that, he hosted Germany’s far-right candidate for chancellor in forthcoming federal elections in a livestream discussion on the social media platform X, which he owns. It is likely that his rigging of X’s algorithm helped push both into millions of people’s feeds.
Politics, Europe, Social Media, Democracy, Technology
6 points by nickcotter 101 days ago | 2 comments