Scholars from across the country have issued a major distress call: American democracy is in peril. Thirty-six experts who study and teach courses on authoritarianism and threats to democracy penned an open letter to the American public last week, begging voters to heed their warning.

“We cannot overstate how dangerous this is,” Boston University professor Steven Rosenzweig wrote, pointing to Donald Trump’s “refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power” should Joe Biden defeat him in the upcoming presidential election.

“If every citizen, Democrat or Republican, does not stand up in the face of these transgressions, then…