As the United States heads toward the midterm elections, there are growing concerns among some political scientists that the country has moved even further along the path to some form of autocracy.

Staffan I. Lindberg, the director of Sweden’s V-Dem Institute, which monitors democracy across the globe, says the U.S. has already crossed the threshold and become an “electoral autocracy.”

Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University and co-author of How Democracies Die, agrees.

“I would argue that the United States in 2025-26 has slid into a mild form of competitive authoritarianism,” Levitsky said. “I think it’s reversible, but this is authoritarianism.”