It's so easy to lose hope when things are bleak, but after years of democracies descending into authoritarianism, it is heartening to see voters around the globe turning out in droves to turf autocrats out of office.

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Just a few weeks after the Trump administration scrapped gruesome plans to livestream an execution, American voters delivered Trump and Republicans an electoral bloodbath in the midterms - and they aren't alone.

In Hungary, Serbia, and Brazil, voters decisively rejected regimes engaged in blatant corruption, who variously targeted their critics in academia and the media, stacked the judiciary, weakened regulation and the public service, destroyed the environment and interfered with elections.

The student protest movement of Serbia ousting its government may be the most impressive democratic achievement, but it is the United States midterm elections that have the biggest implications for Australia, thanks in large part to the AUKUS deal that currently chains us together.

Trump has always admired autocrats, not democrats, and that is visible in his presidency, backed by a compliant Republican Congress and Senate.

Trump sucked up to dictators while imposing tariffs on and threatening to invade America's allies. He stacked the Supreme Court, which then granted presidential immunity from criminal prosecution and overturned the law that secured abortion rights for women.

A paramilitary ICE disappeared neighbours and publicly killed Americans on the streets. Trump appointed a vaccine-sceptic to run the health department and used regulators to target media critics.

He allowed billionaire Elon Musk to gut America's public service, including departments that regulated Musk's companies. Trump's family has used his time in office to enrich themselves all while ordinary Americans saw cuts to their healthcare.

And Trump promised no more forever wars in the Middle East, then attacked Iran, sending petrol prices and interest rates soaring everywhere.

No wonder Australia Institute research shows only 16 per cent of Australians consider the United States to........

© Canberra Times