Attack Categories
Every action in the archive can be tagged by what it targets — the institutions, rights, groups, and values that democratic backsliding erodes. These 56 categories are organized under the same five domains as the 60 traits. An event may carry several categories or none; each links to the archive-grade events that attack it.
Power and Authority 10
The Presidency
The constitutional office of the president and the limits that bind it. This covers claims of powers the office does not hold, the use of official power for personal ends, and the erosion of the norms that constrain executive authority.
The Military
The armed forces and the principle of nonpartisan, civilian-controlled command. It is undermined by politicizing the military, using troops against civilians or for domestic political ends, and purging or pressuring nonpartisan leadership.
Law Enforcement
The principle that policing and federal enforcement operate under law — impartially and accountably. It is undermined by politicized or retaliatory enforcement, the use of force beyond legal limits, and the removal of accountability for abuses.
The Intelligence Community
The agencies that provide independent intelligence to inform national decisions. It is undermined by politicizing intelligence, purging or pressuring officials, and substituting loyalty or political preference for objective assessment.
Peace
The commitment to avoiding unnecessary conflict and pursuing stability through diplomacy. This covers the reckless use or threat of force, the abandonment of peace commitments, and actions that escalate conflict for political ends.
Diplomacy
The institutions and professionals who conduct foreign relations in the national interest. It is undermined by sidelining career diplomats, conducting foreign policy for personal or partisan ends, and abandoning alliances and commitments.
Allies
The United States' alliances and standing among democratic partners. It is undermined by abandoning or antagonizing allies, withdrawing from alliances, and weakening the partnerships that underpin collective security.
Global Democracy
Support for democratic institutions and norms beyond U.S. borders. It is eroded by aligning with authoritarian governments, abandoning human-rights commitments, and withdrawing from the arrangements that sustain the democratic order.
The Union & Federalism
The constitutional bond among the states and the federal balance of power. It is undermined by coercing states or governors, defying federalism, and threatening the cohesion of the union.
Public Norms & Decency
The unwritten standards of conduct and restraint that democratic office demands. This covers the normalization of cruelty, dehumanizing rhetoric, and the abandonment of the ethical norms that constrain how power is used.
Institutions and Governance 16
Rule of Law
The principle that government power is bound by law, applied equally to all, and enforced by independent courts. It is undermined when officials defy or ignore court orders, enforce the law selectively against opponents, or claim to stand above legal accountability.
The Constitution
The foundational framework of rights and limits on government power. It is attacked by actions that defy constitutional limits, claims of authority the Constitution withholds, and efforts to override its protections by decree or force.
Separation of Powers
The constitutional division of authority among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches so each checks the others. It erodes when one branch absorbs another's powers — an executive spending, taxing, or legislating without Congress, or overriding judicial rulings.
Congress
The legislative branch's constitutional authority over laws, spending, and oversight. It is undermined when the executive spends or withholds funds Congress appropriated, ignores subpoenas and oversight, or governs by decree in areas reserved to the legislature.
The Courts
The independent judiciary that resolves disputes and holds power accountable under law. It is threatened by defiance of rulings, attempts to intimidate or remove judges, jurisdiction-stripping, and rhetoric framing adverse decisions as illegitimate.
The Justice Department
The federal apparatus responsible for enforcing the law impartially and independent of political direction. It is undermined when prosecutions target opponents or are dropped for allies, when its independence from the White House is overridden, or when career prosecutors are purged.
The Civil Service
The nonpartisan, career workforce that administers government by expertise and law rather than loyalty. Attacks include mass firings, loyalty tests, reclassifying career roles as political appointments, and replacing professionals with partisan allies.
Public Service
The principle that government exists to serve the public interest rather than private or partisan ends. It is eroded when public offices, resources, or agencies are turned to personal loyalty, patronage, or private gain.
Inspectors General & Watchdogs
The independent officials who audit and investigate government from within. They are attacked by removing or firing inspectors general, defunding oversight bodies, and stripping the independence that lets watchdogs hold power accountable.
Transparency
The public's ability to see how government operates — through records, disclosure, and open proceedings. It erodes when records are withheld, destroyed, or classified to avoid scrutiny, and when reporting requirements are removed.
Anti-Corruption Safeguards
The constitutional and legal barriers against profiting from public office, including the Emoluments Clauses. Attacks include self-dealing, accepting benefits from foreign or domestic interests, and dismantling the ethics rules that prevent corruption.
Elections
The integrity and fairness of the process by which power is won and transferred. It is undermined by efforts to overturn or discredit results, interference with election administration, and attempts to entrench power against the voters' verdict.
Voting Rights
The ability of eligible citizens to register, cast a ballot, and have it counted. It is undermined by restrictions on registration and access, purges of voter rolls, and false claims of fraud used to justify limits on the franchise.
Peaceful Transfer of Power
The norm that power passes to election winners without force or obstruction. It is attacked by efforts to overturn results, obstruct the transfer, or lay the groundwork to refuse a lawful handover of power.
Presidential Term Limits
The 22nd Amendment's two-term limit on the presidency. It is undermined by suggestions, rhetoric, or maneuvers aimed at extending a president's tenure beyond the constitutional limit.
Presidential Succession & Capacity
The 25th Amendment's process for addressing presidential incapacity. It is undermined by efforts to neutralize or evade the mechanisms meant to ensure a capable executive.
Economic Structure 11
The Economy
The stability and fairness of the economic system and the institutions that steward it. This covers politicized interference in economic policy, actions that concentrate economic power or benefit insiders, and the weakening of independent economic institutions.
Trade
The rules and institutions governing international commerce. This covers the use of trade powers for coercion or personal leverage, the bypassing of legal process on tariffs and sanctions, and actions that destabilize the economic order.
Workers
The legal protections, wages, and organizing rights of the labor force. This covers rollbacks of workplace protections, suppression of unions and collective bargaining, and actions that weaken workers' economic security or voice.
Low-Income Americans
The safety-net programs and protections that support people living in or near poverty. This covers cuts to assistance, the weakening of programs millions rely on, and policies that shift burdens onto those least able to bear them.
Public Health
The institutions, expertise, and infrastructure that protect population health. Attacks include politicizing health agencies, suppressing or distorting scientific guidance, dismantling public-health capacity, and undermining trust in medical expertise.
The Sick & Vulnerable
The protections and care owed to people who are ill or otherwise vulnerable. This covers cuts to care and assistance, the removal of protections, and policies that place added burdens on those least able to bear them.
Disabled People
The rights, protections, and accommodations owed to people with disabilities. This covers the rollback of accessibility and anti-discrimination protections and cuts to the programs and services disabled people rely on.
Children
The rights, welfare, and protections owed to children. This covers policies that harm children's safety, health, or rights — including family separation, cuts to child welfare, and the removal of protections.
Veterans
The care, benefits, and protections owed to those who served in the armed forces. This covers cuts to veterans' health care and benefits, the weakening of the institutions that serve them, and the politicization of veterans' affairs.
The Environment
The laws, agencies, and science that protect air, water, land, and public health from environmental harm. It is attacked through the rollback of protections, suppression of environmental science, and the capture of regulators by the industries they oversee.
Climate Cooperation
International commitments and cooperation to address climate change. It is eroded by withdrawing from climate agreements, defunding climate science and programs, and abandoning shared commitments to future stability.
Civil Rights and Dissent 10
Immigrants & Refugees
The legal rights and due-process protections of noncitizens and asylum seekers. Attacks include denial of due process, removals in defiance of court orders, revocation of protected status, and enforcement beyond legal authority.
Minorities
The rights and equal protection of racial, ethnic, and religious minority groups. This covers discriminatory policy, the rollback of civil-rights protections, and official action or rhetoric that targets groups on the basis of identity.
LGBTQ People
The rights, recognition, and equal protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. This covers the rollback of anti-discrimination protections, restrictions on healthcare and recognition, and policy or rhetoric targeting the community.
Women
The rights, protections, and equal standing of women. This covers rollbacks of reproductive and civil rights, the weakening of protections against discrimination and violence, and policy or rhetoric that diminishes women's equal status.
Birthright Citizenship
The constitutional guarantee of citizenship to those born on U.S. soil under the 14th Amendment. It is attacked by attempts to revoke or reinterpret this guarantee through executive action, outside the constitutional amendment process.
Religious Freedom
The freedom to practice any faith or none, and the separation of religion from state coercion. It is undermined by favoring or imposing particular religious views through state power and by discrimination on the basis of belief.
Free Speech
The freedom to speak, publish, and express dissent without government retaliation. It is undermined by punishing or chilling protected speech, retaliating against critics, and using state power to suppress disfavored expression.
Dissent & Protest
The rights to assemble, protest, and voice opposition to government. It is undermined by restricting or criminalizing protest, deploying force against demonstrators, and retaliating against critics or civil-society groups.
Whistleblowers
The legal protections for those who expose government wrongdoing. They are undermined by retaliation against whistleblowers, the removal of protections, and efforts to deter or punish disclosure.
Privacy
The protection of personal data and freedom from unwarranted government surveillance. It is undermined by expanded surveillance without safeguards, the misuse of personal data, and the erosion of legal limits on government intrusion.
Information, Memory and Manipulation 9
Truth
The shared factual record on which accountable government depends. It is degraded by official falsehoods, the manipulation or deletion of public data, and efforts to make verifiable facts contested or unknowable.
The Information Environment
The systems and institutions that produce and carry reliable public information, from federal data to official communications. It is attacked by suppressing or distorting government data, flooding the record with falsehoods, or controlling what the public is permitted to know.
The Press
A free and independent news media able to report on power without state interference. It is attacked through licensing threats, lawsuits and investigations aimed at coverage, exclusion of outlets, and campaigns to discredit reporting as illegitimate.
Science
The independence and integrity of scientific research and expertise in government. It is undermined by suppressing or distorting findings, purging scientists, defunding research, and substituting political preference for evidence.
Education
The institutions and independence of public education, from schools to universities. Attacks include political control over curricula, funding used as leverage, restrictions on what may be taught, and pressure on academic independence.
Public Memory
The records, archives, and shared history through which a society remembers its past. It is attacked by erasing or rewriting the public record, removing archives and data, and reshaping official history for political ends.
Culture & the Arts
The independence of cultural institutions and freedom of artistic expression. This covers political control over cultural funding and institutions, censorship of art and expression, and the use of culture as a loyalty test.
The Internet
The open internet and the integrity of online information systems. It is attacked through algorithmic manipulation, coordinated disinformation, and efforts to control or distort the online information environment.
The Idea of America
The nation's founding ideals and civic identity — equality, liberty, and self-government. It is undermined by rhetoric and policy that repudiate those ideals or redefine national belonging along narrow, exclusionary lines.