The rule of law provides the base for a democratic society. Together we can depend on the courts and law enforcement of the country to protect fairness and prevent fraud. The rule of law depends on the balance of power between the executive branch, legislative branch, and judiciary. Some of this dedication to the rule of law has been lost amidst recent calls for an authoritarian government.
Calls for authoritarianism can be understood in the context of a businessman accustomed to absolute authority over a business organization. Basically, businesses do not respond to a balance of power, there is a structure where management is in charge of the company, all of the company. But in the case of Donald Trump calling for authoritarianism in our democratic government, the roots of embracing of one single authority to run the country can likely be traced to his one-time financial backer Vladimir Putin.
The roots of a democratic government are different from authoritarianism, they are grounded in serving the people. A democratic government is different from a business and different from Russia. Russia has an autocratic society built on rule by one man. The democratic government protects all the people, and implements national, state, and local governments. The government regulates capitalism.
Businesses are different from government, they are driven by markets and market opportunity. They seek to make money for the owners of the business. This is different from a democracy where taxes are levied on all the people and all businesses. In a democracy, all the people come together to elect representatives who will protect their interests.
The roots of democracy are populist, as the Declaration of independence says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the governed.”
The roots of the US democracy are well understood by the entire population of the Town of Lexington, Massachusetts where I live. The early colonists in Massachusetts rebelled against an authoritarian foreign king who was taxing them without representation. They fought the British soldiers in an encounter here in our town, a block from my home, in a battle that is re-enacted every April on Lexington Green. The town is ruled by a Town Meeting that has representatives from all areas of town. We all believe in election integrity.