This project uses a category-based score to track democratic erosion and authoritarian risk. The goal is not to create a sensational feed, but a disciplined early-warning instrument.
Each category is scored from 0 to 10, where higher values indicate greater democratic risk. The overall index is a weighted composite rather than a simple average.
Strong: final court rulings, statutes, executive orders, federal dockets, official data. Medium: reputable multi-outlet reporting or active litigation without final rulings. Weak: social media, unverified claims, or summaries without primary support.
Curated trackers such as Trump Action Tracker are useful as discovery layers, but they should not move the score by themselves without stronger underlying evidence.
| Category | Weight |
|---|---|
| Rule of Law & Court Compliance | 15% |
| Habeas Corpus & Due Process | 15% |
| Coercive State Power & Policing Norms | 15% |
| Political Targeting / Weaponization of Justice | 15% |
| Election Integrity & Peaceful Transfer | 15% |
| Press Freedom & Information Control | 10% |
| Civil Society & Associational Freedom | 5% |
| Institutional Checks & Anti-Corruption | 5% |
| Military & Intelligence Neutrality | 5% |
A redline is a threshold event that materially changes the level of democratic danger if credibly met. The score measures accumulation over time. A redline marks a more abrupt constitutional shock.
Some developments do not merely add risk. They change the kind of system you are living in. Open court defiance, politically motivated jailing, criminalized reporting, or override of certified election results can rapidly collapse the practical value of ordinary democratic safeguards.
Each redline is labeled Not Triggered, Watch, or Triggered. “Watch” means there is meaningful evidence of movement toward the threshold. “Triggered” means the site judges that the threshold has been credibly crossed based on the strongest available evidence, even if broader legal or political debates continue afterward. A triggered redline does not automatically produce a 9.0+ score, but multiple simultaneous redline moves can justify a fast score increase even before full systemic breakdown occurs.
The official meter is now the single signature visual. It should appear on the homepage, social graphics, country landing pages, and report covers so people can identify the score at a glance.
The locked template keeps the center score large, adds 0–10 reference numbers, marks the redline boundary at 9.0, and preserves a country tag plus provenance watermark.
To scale internationally, the same structure can swap in a country badge, country name, month, and updated score without losing recognition.
Authored by Kurt Lohse with research and analytical support from OpenAI's ChatGPT (GPT-5 class model).