A book by Pierpaolo Marturano
The United States After the Second Trump Presidency
"The question is not whether democracy will return to what it was before, but whether it will manage to avoid becoming something qualitatively worse."
A structural analysis of the American democratic crisis
Democracy in Reverse is an in-depth analysis of how the American democratic system is undergoing a phase of structural regression. This is not political journalism or partisan polemic, but a rigorous investigation into the deep mechanisms that are transforming one of the world's most influential democracies.
The book explores the historical roots of the crisis, Trump's role as a catalyst, the institutional transformations of the second presidency, and the global consequences of this change. The approach is interdisciplinary: historical, constitutional-legal, political science, and media studies.
"Democracies, unlike authoritarian regimes, rarely collapse through a single traumatic event. More frequently, they transform through accumulation, through successive adaptations, through small exceptions that become customary. It is precisely this gradualness that makes them vulnerable."
Six parts to understand the ongoing transformation
Part I
American exceptionalism, pre-Trump tensions, the role of media and polarization in preparing the ground.
Part II
How the first presidency functioned as a stress test for American democratic institutions.
Part III
Structural differences from the first term: judicial system, organizational learning, preemptive purges.
Part IV
Separation of powers under attack, the cold cultural civil war, erosion of informal norms.
Part V
Impact on the international system, domino effect on allied democracies, redefinition of the liberal order.
Part VI
Possible scenarios, indicators to monitor, conditions for a possible democratic recovery.
Two complementary analyses on the crisis of the liberal order
Why Europe must become a federation or disappear
While Democracy in Reverse analyzes the American democratic crisis, Stati Uniti d'Europa explores the consequences for the Old Continent. In a world dominated by continental blocs — USA, China, Russia — a fragmented Europe risks becoming an object rather than a subject of geopolitics.
The book proposes a radical thesis: the European Union in its current form cannot survive. Either Europe makes the leap toward a true federation, or it will be destined for strategic irrelevance. Includes a complete draft of a European federal Constitution.
The two volumes reference each other: the American democratic crisis described in this book is analyzed in Stati Uniti d'Europa as one of the factors making European strategic autonomy urgent. (Italian language)
Latest news on the themes of the book
February 7, 2026
360 judges rejected the detention policy. Two 5th Circuit judges approve it. Bondi: "Blow against activist judges."
February 7, 2026
Hegseth: "Harvard is woke, the War Department is not." End to military training programs with the university.
February 6, 2026
President shares AI meme depicting the Obamas as apes. Tim Scott (R): "Most racist thing from this White House."
