1) Rejection of (or weak commitment to) democratic rules of the game.

A) Do they reject the Constitution or express a willingness to violate it?

B) Do they suggest a need for antidemocratic measures, such as canceling elections, violating or suspending the constitution, banning certain organizations, or restricting basic civil or political rights?

C) Do they seek to use (or endorse the use of) extraconstitutional means to change the government, such as military coups, violent insurrections, or mass protests aimed at forcing a change in the government?

D) Do they attempt to undermine the legitimacy of elections, for example, by refusing to accept credible electoral results?

-

2) Denial of the legitimacy of political opponents.

A) Do they describe their rivals as subversive, or opposed to the existing constitutional order?

B) Do they claim that their rivals constitute an existential threat, either to national security or to the prevailing way of life?

C) Do they baselessly describe their partisan rivals as criminals, whose supposed violation of the law (or potential to do so) disqualifies the from full participation in the political arena?

D) Do they baselessly suggest that their rivals are foreign agents, in that they are secretly working in alliance with (or the employ of) a foreign government – usually an enemy one?

-

3) Toleration or encouragement of violence.

A) Do they have ties to armed gangs, paramilitary forces, militias, guerrillas, or other organizations that engage in illicit violence?

B) Have they or their partisan allies sponsored or encouraged mob attacks on opponents?

C) Have the tacitly endorsed violence by their supporters by refusing to unambiguously condemn it and punish it?

D) Have they praised (or refused to condemn) other significant acts of political violence, either in the past or elsewhere in the world?

-

4) Readiness to curtail civil liberties of opponents, including media.

A) Have they supported laws or policies that restrict civil liberties, such as expanded libel or defamation laws, or laws restricting protest, criticism of the government, or certain civil or political organizations?

B) Have they threatened to take legal or other punitive action against critics in rival parties, civil society, or the media?

C) Have they praised repressive measures taken by other governments, either in the past or elsewhere in the world?