Blocked voter purges and citizenship restrictions, compelled discovery and retained habeas jurisdiction.
September 2026 · The score explained
How America reached 9.7.
The warning rose because seven categories worsened and two held at already-severe levels. The defining pattern was a transfer of constitutional burden from weakened internal safeguards to courts, civil society, state officials and individual watchdogs.
Current index9.7Deep Red Zone
0.3 remains before the redline
Previous9.6
September move+0.1
Weighted result9.65
Published score9.7
The finding in 60 seconds
Pressure increased. The remaining safeguards still mattered.
Federal election interventions, serial court-compliance disputes, long detention, domestic military normalization, personalized justice, regulatory pressure on media and weakened congressional oversight reinforced one another.
The score remains below 10 because courts continued imposing enforceable limits, civil society remained operational, state and local officials retained election administration, and uniformed military leadership publicly rejected involvement at polling places.
Nine-category scorecard
Seven categories worsened. Two held at severe levels.
Open each category to inspect both the deterioration and the countervailing restraint.
Election IntegrityAugust 9.8 → September 9.99.9+0.1
What deterioratedFederal intervention in ballot rules, voter data and voting-equipment narratives intensified before the midterms.
What still heldStates, civic litigants and courts retained control and blocked mass-purge and postal measures.
Rule of Law & Court ComplianceAugust 9.7 → September 9.89.8+0.1
What deterioratedEnforcement motions, serial workarounds and contested compliance made obedience to judicial orders a recurring issue.
What still heldCourts continued issuing enforceable injunctions and compelling discovery.
Habeas Corpus & Due ProcessAugust 9.7 → September 9.89.8+0.1
What deterioratedLong detention without bond, habeas delays and renewed citizenship restrictions increased constitutional pressure.
What still heldArticle III review remained available and courts blocked key citizenship directives.
Coercive State PowerAugust 9.4 → September 9.69.6+0.2
What deterioratedA year-long domestic Guard deployment and coercive federal leverage became more normalized.
What still heldMilitary leaders rejected polling-place deployments and ballot seizures.
Weaponized JusticeAugust 9.8 → September 9.99.9+0.1
What deterioratedDOJ leadership openly rejected traditional prosecutorial independence as retaliation allegations grew.
What still heldCourts forced disclosure and career officials continued challenging retaliation.
Press FreedomAugust 9.6 → September 9.79.7+0.1
What deterioratedPentagon newsroom firings and FCC pressure increased the cost of independent reporting.
What still heldHerridge's fines were paused and independent outlets continued reporting and litigating.
Civil SocietyAugust 8.6 → September 8.68.6+0.0
What deterioratedGovernment measures continued testing advocacy, association and nonprofit independence.
What still heldOrganizations remained fully capable of organizing, litigating and winning relief.
Institutional OversightAugust 9.7 → September 9.99.9+0.2
What deterioratedCongressional inaction, Iran war-powers drift, internal-watchdog pressure and executive secrecy widened the accountability gap.
What still heldCourts, grand juries and some inspectors general still produced concrete consequences.
Military / Intelligence NeutralityAugust 9.4 → September 9.49.4+0.0
What deterioratedThe prolonged domestic Guard mission and incomplete intelligence review prevented an improvement finding.
What still heldGeneral Caine publicly firewalled the military from election administration.
The weighted result is 9.65, published as 9.7. Each event receives full weight in one principal category to limit double counting. Review the methodology →
Why the score is not 10
What still held.
Only resistance that prevented, delayed, reversed or exposed harm receives countervailing credit.
Organizations continued organizing, litigating and obtaining enforceable relief.
State and local officials remained responsible for election administration.
Uniformed leadership ruled out polling-place deployments and ballot seizures.
An independent monthly warning system tracking democratic stress in the United States.