Two Checks Keep Democracy Afloat

The U.S. may withstand executive overreach not because all checks function well, but because a small number of critical institutions still act effectively to limit power. If those few fail, backsliding could accelerate quickly even where broader political accommodation or complacency persists. — Naming and monitoring the specific 'last‑line' institutional checks focuses public debate on where democratic failure would actually begin and where reform or defense would have outsized payoff.