If you are looking for signs of would-be dictators, see how their opposition is faring. As a role model, Putin is hard to beat, as Alexei Navalny found to his cost. Anyone hoping to become the sole ruler of their country should prepare to accuse opposition leaders of some treasonable offences.
Stacking the judiciary in your favour is a must. Then you can employ executive orders to circumvent the democratic process.
Local government leaders can become the base for opposition to central government. Turkey’s dictator, Recep Erdogan, has been in power since 2003. He has arrested Ekrem Imamoglu, his political rival, on trumped up charges provoking demonstrations and rioting.
The police should be used to quash any sort of opposition demonstrations. Social media should be closely monitored and any critics of the ruling party should be arrested.
Ideally, all radio and television broadcasting should be owned by the state and foreign journalists denied access to the dictator.
Liberal democracy has been in decline across the globe, replaced by populist and nationalist parties waving flags of racism and xenophobia
The supporters of nationalism often go to extremes in pursuit of their goals. The Black Hundreds were ardent Russian nationalists in the early 1900s who opposed revolutionary groups and carried out pogroms. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Hundreds
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