As the Constitutional Convention of 1787 ended, Ben Franklin walked out of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall to find an anxious crowd. According to a diary entry recorded by James McHenry, a signatory to the Constitution, a woman from Philadelphia was the first to speak to Franklin. "Well, doctor,” she asked, “what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" "A republic,” Franklin famously replied. “If you can keep it." Perhaps we cannot. This reads like hyperbole. But is it? Consider, for a moment, the knife’s edge on which the republic rests. The election is 24 hours away. As I write this, Donald Trump is 1.8 points behind Hillary Clinton in the RealClearPolitics polling average. And here is what we know of Donald Trump. He is a man who routinely praises dictators. Of Vladimir Putin, Trump said, "He's running his country, and at least he's a leader, unlike what we have in this country." Of Kim Jong Un, Trump said, "You've got to give him credit. He goes in, he takes over, and he's the boss. It's incredible." Of Saddam Hussein, Trump said, "He killed terrorists. He did that so good. They didn't read them the rights." It’s not just that Trump admires authoritarians; it’s that the thing he admires about them is their authoritarianism — their ability to dispense with niceties like a free press, due process, and political opposition. Trump has promised — in public, and repeatedly — to bring this hammer to American governance. He stood in a nationally televised debate and vowed to jail his opponent if elected. He has proposed strengthening libel laws to make it easier to cow the press and antitrust laws to punish Jeff Bezos and Amazon for the Washington Post’s coverage of his candidacy. In a recent speech at Gettysburg meant to preview his first 100 days in office, Trump said he would sue all of the women who accused him of sexual assault.