In the follow-up to their 2018 bestseller B次元官网网址淗ow Democracies Die,B次元官网网址� authors Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky write about three rules that political parties must follow: accept the results of fair elections, reject the use of violence to gain power and break ties to extremists.

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, they write, only one U.S. political party B次元官网网址渧iolated all three.B次元官网网址�

Saturday marks the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and Donald Trump, the former president, is far-and-away the leading Republican candidate in 2024. He still refuses to acknowledge his earlier loss to President Joe Biden. Far from rejecting the rioters, he has suggested he would pardon some of those who have been convicted of violent crimes. Rather than distance himself from extremists, he welcomes them at his rallies and calls them patriots.

And Trump is now backed by many of the Republican leaders who fled for their lives and hid from the rioters, even some who had condemned Trump. Several top GOP leaders have endorsed his candidacy.

The support for Trump starkly highlights the divisions in the aftermath of the deadly storming of the Capitol and frames the question about whose definition of governance will prevail B次元官网网址� or if democracy will prevail at all.

B次元官网网址淚f our political leaders do not stand up in defense of democracy, our democracy wonB次元官网网址檛 be defended,B次元官网网址� said Levitsky, one of the Harvard professors whose new book is B次元官网网址淭yranny of the Minority.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 no country in the world, no country on Earth in history, where the politicians abdicated democracy but the institutions held,B次元官网网址� he told The Associated Press. B次元官网网址淧eople have to defend democracy.B次元官网网址�

The third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack comes during the most convulsive period in American politics in at least a generation, with Congress barely able to keep up with the basics of governing, and the start of the presidential nominating contests just over a week away.

TrumpB次元官网网址檚 persistent false claims that the election of 2020 was stolen B次元官网网址� which has been rejected in at least 60 court cases, every state election certification and by the former presidentB次元官网网址檚 one-time attorney general B次元官网网址� continue to animate the presidential race as he eyes a rematch with Biden.

Instead, Trump now faces more than 90 criminal charges in federal and state courts, including the federal indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith that accused Trump of conspiring to defraud the U.S. over the election.

Biden, speaking Friday near PennsylvaniaB次元官网网址檚 Valley Forge, commemorated Jan. 6, saying on that day B次元官网网址渨e nearly lost America B次元官网网址� lost it all.B次元官网网址�

While the Congress returned that night to certify the election results and show the world democracy was still standing, Biden said Trump is now trying to revise the narrative of what happened that day B次元官网网址� calling the rioters B次元官网网址減atriotsB次元官网网址� and promising to pardon them. And he said some Republicans in Congress were complicit.

B次元官网网址淲hen the attack on Jan. 6 happened there was no doubt about the truth,B次元官网网址� Biden said. B次元官网网址淣ow these MAGA voices B次元官网网址� who know the truth about Trump and Jan. 6 B次元官网网址� have abandoned the truth and abandoned the democracy.B次元官网网址�

At a quieter Capitol, without much ceremony planned for Saturday, it will be the last time the anniversary will pass before Congress is called upon again, on Jan. 6, 2025, to certify the results of the presidential election B次元官网网址� democracy once more put to the test.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Maryland Democrat who led TrumpB次元官网网址檚 impeachment over the insurrection, said BidenB次元官网网址檚 306-232 electoral victory in 2020 remains B次元官网网址渢he hard, inescapable, irradicable fact that Donald Trump and his followers have not been able to accept B次元官网网址� to this day.B次元官网网址�

Raskin envisions a time when there will be a Capitol exhibit, and tours for visitors, to commemorate what happened Jan. 6, 2021. Five people died during the riot and the immediate aftermath, including Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by police.

All told,140 police officers were injured in the Capitol siege, including U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick who died later. Several others died later by suicide.

One officer, Harry Dunn, has announced he is running for Congress to B次元官网网址渆nsure it never happens again.B次元官网网址�

TrumpB次元官网网址檚 decision to reject the results of the 2020 election was the only time Americans have not witnessed the peaceful transfer of presidential power, a hallmark of U.S. democracy.

A giant portrait of George Washington resigning his military commission hangs in the U.S. Capitol, a symbol of the voluntary relinquishing of power B次元官网网址� a move that was considered breathtaking at the time. He later was elected the first U.S. president.

Trump opened his first rally of his 2024 presidential campaign with a popular recording of the J6 Prison Choir B次元官网网址�- riot defendants singing B次元官网网址淭he Star-Spangled BannerB次元官网网址� recorded over a phone line from jail, interspersed with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

More than 1,200 people have been charged in the riot, with nearly 900 convicted, including leaders of the extremist groups the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who are serving lengthy terms for seditious conspiracy.

Trump has called Jan. 6 defendants B次元官网网址渉ostagesB次元官网网址� and said there was so much love at the B次元官网网址淪top the StealB次元官网网址� rally he held near the White House that day before he encouraged the mob to march down Pennsylvania Avenue, assuring he would be with them at the Capitol, though he never did join.

Allies of Trump scoff at the narrative of Jan. 6 that has emerged. Mike Davis, a Trump ally sometimes mentioned as a future attorney general, has mocked the Democrats and others for turning Jan. 6 into a B次元官网网址渞eligious holiday.B次元官网网址�

Republican Kevin McCarthy, who went on to become House speaker, had called Jan. 6 the B次元官网网址渟addest dayB次元官网网址� he ever had in Congress. But McCarthy, R-Calif., retired last month he endorsed Trump for president and said he would consider joining his cabinet.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has said he would back whomever becomes the Republican Party nominee, despite a scathing speech at the time in which he called TrumpB次元官网网址檚 actions B次元官网网址渄isgracefulB次元官网网址� and said the rioters B次元官网网址渉ad been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth because he was angry he lost an election.B次元官网网址�

Asked about TrumpB次元官网网址檚 second-term agenda, GOP lawmakers brushed off his admission that he would be a dictator on B次元官网网址渄ay one.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 joking,B次元官网网址� said Trump ally Byron Donalds, R-Fla.

B次元官网网址淛ust bravado,B次元官网网址� said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn. B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 still checks and balances.B次元官网网址�

Levitsky said when he and his colleague wrote their earlier book, they believed that the Republicans in Congress would be a B次元官网网址渂ulwark against Trump.B次元官网网址�

But with so many of the Trump detractors having retired or been voted out of office, B次元官网网址淲e were much less pessimistic than we are today.B次元官网网址�

Lisa Mascaro, The Associated Press