America Is Sliding toward Becoming a Banana Republic

The term “banana republic” originally referred to puppet regimes in Central and South America supported by the U.S. government and corporations. These countries often relied on a sole crop to export and had weak governmental systems; their judicial and executive branches were subject to manipulation by the powerful and lacked legal safeguards. Today, likening the U.S. to a banana republic is undoubtedly ironic — a country claiming to be “of the people, by the people, for the people,” and known to be the world’s most liberal democracy, is slowly beginning to exhibit characteristics similar to that of an autocracy.

A series of recent reports by The New York Times has caused other countries to wonder whether the U.S. is sliding dangerously close to becoming a banana republic. Five of the incidents reported are particularly thought provoking.

First is the crisis surrounding the forced resignation of public prosecutors. A prosecutor assigned to investigate Donald Trump’s political opponents was forced to resign under pressure from the president due to the inability to produce “results.” The judiciary should be impartial and independent. However, when the president openly calls for the investigative system to “handle people” without looking at evidence, the foundations of the whole system are being eroded.

Second is the infringement on freedom of the press. Two famous talk show hosts who have long mocked Trump had their shows canceled, purportedly under pressure from the Federal Communications Commission. If true, this isn’t just an issue of media operations; rather, it touches upon the freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. During the Cold War, the U.S. prided itself on being “the voice of freedom.” Now, the government is secretly suppressing dissent — an ironic contrast to its actions in the past.

Third is the case of Harvard University. Because Harvard was unwilling to fully comply with the Trump administration’s demands, its federal research funds were frozen. Academic freedom, always a core value in American higher education, is now being influenced by the executive branch. This brings to mind McCarthyism, when many academics were apprehended for having suspected communist sympathies. This period left a long shadow on American intelligentsia.

Fourth is the firing of the chief statistician in the Bureau of Labor Statistics because she published data showing a decline in national hiring, which displeased Trump. Economic statistics should be based in professionalism and transparency. If data are manipulated under political pressure, not only will they mislead policies but they will also shake the faith the rest of the world has in the U.S. market. The sturdiness of a democratic system is built on a foundation of open and transparent data.

Finally, the controversy over the turnover at the Federal Reserve Board. The Fed is supposed to be independent of the executive branch to protect monetary policies from short-term political interference. However, once Trump dismissed a disobedient board member, citing her “involvement in mortgage fraud,” people suspected that his actual motive was to force interest rate cuts. If the financial system loses independence, the effect on global markets will unfortunately be much more profound than that of a single power struggle.

These five examples reveal a common trend: The system of checks and balances is gradually being eroded. This isn’t just a question of Trump’s personal style but rather the frailty of institutional design under political polarization.

The U.S. has faced similar challenges throughout history. During the time of Richard Nixon, Watergate shook public sentiment. In the end, however, investigations and impeachment proceedings demonstrated the self-healing power of the system. The problem now is that the degree of polarization between America’s two parties far exceeds that of the 1970s. Whether the system is strong enough is worth asking. In some European countries, rising populism has also challenged the independence of the judiciary and media. Still, since the U.S. has been “a model of democracy,” the demonstrative effect of its decline has been particularly severe.

Fortunately, the U.S. still has independent courts and a vibrant media landscape and civil society. Once power routinely crosses red lines within the system, successively pressuring judicial, academic, media and financial regulators, the country is no longer the “city upon the hill” it once was in the hearts of people around the world. America’s predicament is an alarm bell for all democracies.

The author is a scholar at Academia Sinica and a distinguished research chair professor at National Tsing Hua University.