In the 1930s, a conservative social movement took root in Germany, urging citizens to intensify their nationalism and reassert so-called "pure" German virtues. Promoting social cohesion, the movement demonized intellectuals and attacked racial and sexual diversity in every form. In 1933, pursuing its nationalist agenda, the movement began banning books dismissed as "intellectual," eventually burning texts that supported diversity of thought or culture. Alongside book bans, the state issued edicts controlling press content. By the early 1940s, the state encouraged—and then required—citizens to spy on and report their neighbors.

This historical pattern is now present in American politics, according to critics. Under the Trump administration, over 130 election deniers have run in midterm elections across 35 states, from North Carolina to Arizona, after Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen permeated the GOP.

As of 2026, 23 Republican-led states have passed laws that critics compare to authoritarian regimes, including legislation that bans books and classroom discussions, mandates media content, controls private medical decisions, requires Bible study in public schools, and—most notably—encourages vigilante citizens to report their neighbors for state rewards.

Texas has become the focal point of this trend. The state is widely known for its abortion bounty system, which authorizes private citizens to enforce the state's abortion ban by suing abortion providers and anyone who assists a woman seeking an abortion—including her husband, parents, neighbors, friends, family members, and even her taxi or Uber driver. Under the Texas Heartbeat Act, successful plaintiffs collect a bounty of at least $10,000 plus attorneys' fees. The law's design—deputizing private citizens rather than relying on state enforcement—was crafted to shield state officials from federal constitutional challenges, since there was no state actor to sue. Civil liberties organizations including the ACLU mounted legal challenges, but the Supreme Court allowed the law to remain in effect while challenges worked through lower courts. The private-enforcement model has since been studied as a template for legislation in other Republican-led states seeking to restrict rights without direct state action.

Governor Greg Abbott has also drawn criticism after stripping Medicaid from two million Texans, most of them children. He additionally vetoed a state proposal to provide summer meals during a SNAP freeze, despite presiding over policies that critics say exacerbate childhood hunger.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, now campaigning for U.S. Senate in a race against incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn, led 17 GOP states in a lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court attempting to set aside Joe Biden's 2020 election win. The lawsuit was rejected. The organization Lawyers Defending American Democracy argued that Paxton was attempting to "cast doubt on whether truly democratic presidential elections" would ever be held in America again.

Texas State Bar officials subsequently urged regulators to discipline Paxton for serious ethical misconduct. Paxton was also indicted on two counts of first-degree securities fraud, charges he later settled by paying restitution. Trump endorsed Paxton in the Senate GOP primary.

Texas has also implemented initiatives that encourage citizen surveillance. Abbott called on "licensed professionals" and "members of the general public" to report parents of transgender minors to state authorities if they believe the parents are providing gender-affirming medical care. Paxton has endorsed this approach, labeling such parents "child abusers." Similar directives encouraging citizens to report neighbors have emerged in other Republican-led states, deepening the parallel that legal scholars and historians have drawn between these policies and authoritarian surveillance networks.

These measures echo historical precedents. In the early 1930s, as Hitler rose to power in Germany, one of his first moves was encouraging citizens to relay information about their neighbors, family, and friends to the state. The Gestapo eventually operated with a network of thousands of informants.

Critics argue that Texas's expansion of state power contradicts the Texas GOP's own proclamation that "freedom, opportunity, and economic prosperity" matter most to Texans. The state's policies, they contend, represent a significant expansion of governmental authority that mirrors some of the most dangerous authoritarian regimes in history.

Sabrina Haake is a political analyst and 25+ year federal trial attorney specializing in 1st and 14th Amendment defense. She writes the free Substack, The Haake Take.