Nearly all living Americans grew up taking democracy for granted. Until recently, many believed--and acted as if--the constitutional system was unbreakable, no matter how recklessly politicians behaved. No longer. Americans watch with growing unease as the political system threatens to go off the rails: costly government shutdowns, stolen Supreme Court seats, impeachments, mounting concerns about the fairness of elections, and, of course, the election of a presidential candidate who had condoned violence at rallies and threatened to lock up his rival, and who, as president, has begun to subvert the rule of law by defying congressional oversight and corrupting law enforcement agencies to protect his political allies and investigate his opponents. In a 2019 survey by Public Agenda, 39 percent of Americans said they believed democracy is "in crisis," while another 42 percent said it faces "serious challenges." Only 15 percent said American democracy is "doing well." Democratic backsliding in the United States is no longer a matter of speculative concern. It has begun. Well-regarded global democracy indexes--such as Freedom House, Varieties of Democracy, and the Economist Intelligence Unit --all show an erosion of American democracy since 2016. According to Freedom House's ranking, the United States is now less democratic than Chile, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Taiwan, and Uruguay--and in the same category as newer democracies like Croatia, Greece, Mongolia, and Panama.