Recent attention to Presidential Emergency Action Documents (PEADs) – the secret directives available to the United States presidents during declared emergencies – has intensified concerns about the concentration of executive power and the fragility of constitutional safeguards in the US. Reports that some allies of President Donald Trump have explored the use of emergency powers to exert greater control over electoral processes, combined with ongoing efforts to reshape electoral institutions through aggressive gerrymandering and executive action, have deepened fears of democratic backsliding. Yet focusing exclusively on Trump risks overlooking the broader historical significance of the present moment. The real issue extends beyond Trump’s authoritarian tendencies to encompass a wider crisis of American hegemony and the growing tension between democratic institutions and oligarchic power in an evolving global order.Also read: Neither Washington Nor Beijing Can Prevail in an Age of Global DisorderPolitical hegemony rests on a combination of consent and coercion. Stable political orders depend primarily upon legitimacy – the capacity of ruling elites to persuade citizens that their leadership serves the public interest. Force is always present, but it plays a supporting role. When consent weakens, however, coercion moves to the foreground.The post-1945 American-led international order was arguably the most successful hegemonic project in modern history. Through military alliances, transnational elite networks, philanthropic foundations, universities, think tanks and policy organisations, the US embedded its leadership within broadly accepted norms. Thus, American power appeared universal, benevolent and historically necessary.Transformation, not declineRather than experiencing simple decline, the US is confronting the consequences of the success of the globalisation project it helped create. The integration of major emerging countries, including China, India, Brazil and others, into the global economy generated unprecedented growth and increased international competition. The problem confronting Washington is therefore not the collapse, but the emergence of a world in which American primacy is increasingly contested.However, this shift should not be mistaken for democratisation.Drawing on the concept of ‘critical multiplexity,’ Sasikumar Sundaram and Inderjeet Parmar argue that although power has become more dispersed, this does not necessarily translate into higher diffusion of power among people. Instead, a broader and more geographically diverse oligarchy has emerged. Transnational elites have extended influence beyond Wall Street and Washington to cities including Shanghai, Mumbai, São Paulo, Dubai and Singapore. The result, they argue, is not global democracy but a more globalised form of oligarchy.Also read: Trump’s Beijing Visit Exposes Global Hegemonic Crisis and the Shape of Emerging World OrderWithin this framework, Trumpism is presented as a political expression. Like the traditional foreign-policy establishment, Trump seeks to preserve American predominance. But what distinguishes him is his preference for overtly coercive and nationalist methods over multilateral institutions and liberal internationalism. Increasing invocation of emergency powers is symptomatic of this shift. Immigration, crime, protests, foreign competition and even elections are increasingly framed as emergencies, reinforcing the normalisation of exceptional executive authority. The concern is not the possible suspension of constitutional rights in extraordinary circumstances but the gradual transformation of emergency governance into a permanent feature of political life. Mass protest as democratic resistanceAlongside these developments, the US is also witnessing one of the most intense periods of mass protest in its modern history.The “No Kings” mobilisations against Trump’s authoritarian tendencies and the broader anti-democratic drift brought millions of Americans onto the streets. Researchers associated with the Crowd Counting Consortium estimate that the June 2025 protests involved between two and five million participants across more than 2,100 locations, making them among the largest single-day demonstrations in US history. What is striking is not merely the size of these protests, but also their dispersion. Demonstrations have extended beyond major metropolitan centres into small towns, suburban communities and areas previously regarded as politically quiescent, indicating a wider geographic spread than many previous protest movements. This is politically significant because it points toward an essential truth often forgotten in liberal commentary: democracy is rarely secured by elites alone.Historically, many landmark democratic advances – universal suffrage, labour rights, civil rights, decolonisation, gender equality – were not gifts bestowed by enlightened rulers. They were won through sustained mass mobilisation. The current American crisis may prove no different.The belief that constitutional safeguards alone can halt authoritarian tendencies rests on a misplaced faith in institutions that are often detached from society. Constitutional institutions remain important, but their effectiveness depends on public engagement capable of influencing elite decision-making. From a Gramscian perspective, periods of hegemonic crisis create opportunities for counter-hegemonic movements to reshape political consensus, alter elite calculations and create new alliances. While this does not guarantee democratic renewal and may lose potential or become fragmented, the scale of recent protests suggest that authoritarian projects are encountering resistance on a similarly historic scale.The future of American democracy may therefore depend less on secret emergency documents than on whether popular mobilisation continues to expand. The lesson of the current moment is clear. Democracy is not safe in the hands of elites alone. It must be defended by citizens acting collectively. Inderjeet Parmar is a professor of international politics and the associate dean of research, School of Policy and Global Affairs, City St George’s, University of London. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and writes the American Imperium column at The Wire. He is the author of several books including Foundations of the American Century and is currently writing a book on the history, politics and crises of the US foreign policy establishment.Bamo Nouri is an Honorary Visiting Research Fellow at City St George’s, University of London and an independent investigative journalist and writer with interests in American foreign policy and the international and domestic politics of West Asia. He is the author of Elite Theory and the 2003 Iraq Occupation by the United States.