The emergence of the "NatCon" movement several years earlier had alarmed many liberal, centrist and even mainline conservative observers with its efforts to rehabilitate the concept of nationalism.

Call it autocracy, authoritarianism or dictatorship, but the general concept is the same: A head of state holds all power with no meaningful oversight or checks from inside or outside the government.

Indeed, a map of autocracies around the world shows ... can be loosely characterized as a single unit – an axis of autocracy – all while each maintains a great deal of individual sovereignty.

How the Founding Fathers' concept of 'Minority Rule' is alive and well today It's a fundamental tension in a democracy: How do you have majority rule in a way that also protects minority rights?