Democracies get sick and then die from within. One of the main ways that this occurs is when mainstream conservative political parties and movements begin to form alliances with fascist and other authoritarian leaders and forces because of an incorrect belief that the latter can be controlled and used as a weapon against a common enemy on the so-called left.
In the end, that often does not happen. The right-wing extremists instead take control of the mainstream institutional “conservative” party. This can happen by conquering and coercion or through a marriage of convenience and (mostly) choice.
