What are Thomas Madden's seven warning signs of a dying republic?

On The Shawn Ryan Show, historian Thomas Madden read out his scorecard for a broken republic in order of severity: officials defying Supreme Court orders, elections suspended in violation of law, real violence between officials for political ends, party-run paramilitary forces, lists of traitors who can be seized or killed without trial, the military endorsing candidates, and the military occupying the Capitol and expelling the elected government.

• Madden said he does not think any of the seven are showing in the United States yet.
• The first sign, ignoring the Supreme Court, is the one he says he always watches most closely.
• Madden said these breakdowns come in small increments that people gradually accept.

▸In their words

“I don't think any of them are showing yet.” Thomas Madden · at 2:24:41 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Shawn Ryan Show (2026-11-02). Read the whole episode summary →

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