1Dime Radio

Author: Tony of 1Dime

1Dime Radio is a podcast about politics, philosophy, theory, history, and political economy hosted by Tony, a political theorist and founder of the YouTube channel "1Dime." For access to the Patreon exclusive episodes (The Backroom podcast), become a Patron: thttps://www.patreon.com/OneDime
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Will America Become a Dictatorship? (Ft. Benjamin Studebaker)
Episode 134
Friday, 27 February, 2026

Get access to The Backroom (100+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDimeThis week on 1Dime Radio, Tony is joined again by Benjamin Studebaker, political theorist with a PhD from Cambridge, to dig into Ben’s recent article on “Debilitated Democracy,” the idea that modern democracies do not simply “decline”, they get structurally less capable over time, as modernization accelerates, politics fractures, and governance is pushed into an executive-technical machine that neither elected leaders nor technocrats can fully control. From there, we tackle Ben’s argument for why America can’t become an autocracy, and why people confuse authoritarian policy with autocratic rule, plus how federal complexity, institutional pluralism, and factional conflict make “dictatorship” fantasies harder to cash out in real life.Parts 2 and 3 of my conversation with Studebaker are in The Backroom on Patreon only. In The Backroom, as alluded to in the Backroom Preview in the first 2.5–3 minutes, Benjamin and I answer some of the most common questions we get regarding our politics. Are we post-left? Marxist? Or what? In particular, I try to get Studebaker to articulate what his personal political philosophy is, and what solutions or alternatives to our current impasse he believes in.Timestamps:00:00:00 Studebaker’s Political Philosophy (The Backroom Preview)00:04:13 Intro, “Debilitated Democracy,” and the autocracy question00:13:08 Technocrats as “priests,” and why institutional trust collapses00:28:08 Elected officials vs technocrats, the executive branch tug-of-war00:47:36 Kelsen, Habermas, and democracy’s legitimation crisis00:54:47 Trump, tariffs, visas, and the political limits of “disentangling” from the world order00:59:18 Authoritarian policy vs autocratic rule, why America can’t be an autocracy01:11:59 Nick Land, Curtis Yarvin, and the “CEO-king” temptation01:23:23 Government shutdowns, food stamps, and “embedded democracy.”01:35:25 Managing the European right, and why France and Germany are different01:43:05 State capacity, charismatic leaders, and modern governance limits01:56:08 Backroom teaser: what “left” and “right” even mean nowGUEST:Benjamin Studebaker• Substack: https://bmstudebaker.substack.com/• Website: https://benjaminstudebaker.com/• X: https://x.com/BMStudebakerFOLLOW 1Dime:• Substack (Articles and Essays): https://1dimereview.substack.com/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial• Instagram: instagram.com/1dimeman• Check out my main channel videos: https://www.youtube.com/@1DimeeLeave a like, drop a comment, and give the show a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to this.