The United States faces a narrow window ahead of November’s midterm elections, according to a recent opinion piece by Timothy Garton Ash. The column asserts that a substantial Democratic victory is required to counter steps by President Donald Trump that the author characterises as efforts to influence the electoral process.
The Varieties of Democracy (V‑Dem) Institute at Gothenburg University is cited in the piece for its Democracy Report 2026, which documents a pronounced decline in measures of liberal democracy in the United States. The report identifies 2025 as among the fastest years of democratic deterioration on record and states that “democracy in the USA is now at its worst in 60 years,” a finding that anchors the opinion writer’s argument.
Timothy Garton Ash draws a parallel between the scale of victory he deems necessary and past international cases, arguing that only a landslide comparable to what he describes as a “Hungarian‑style” outcome would be sufficient to overwhelm institutional measures he says could be used to alter or restrict electoral competition. The column frames this as the final opportunity for the Democratic Party to reverse what it presents as a deliberate erosion of democratic norms and checks on executive power.
The piece also places these developments in historical context, noting the United States’ approaching 250th anniversary and referencing concerns raised by early critics of concentrated executive authority, including Patrick Henry. It presents the midterm elections as a pivotal moment, contending that the scale of electoral outcomes will shape institutional resilience going forward. The article attributes these assessments to the cited report and to the author’s interpretation, without offering independent proof beyond those sources.
