Freedom House and The Economist rank US in the second tier of democracies below Canada and Germany and in the same range as Argentina and Mongolia. We will look at what is causing this demise of American democracy by focusing on the weakening of our democratic institutions: rule-of-law, separation-of-powers, independent judiciary, and others.  We will also look at alternative forms of government that are gaining some favor in traditionally Western democracies, especially among younger people.