NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Comprehensive, enlightening, and terrifyingly timely.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)
WINNER OF THE GOLDSMITH BOOK PRIZE • SHORTLISTED FOR THE LIONEL GELBER PRIZE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • Time • Foreign Affairs • WBUR • Paste
Donald Trump’s presidency has raised a question that many of us never thought we’d be asking: Is our democracy in danger? Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have spent more than twenty years studying the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, and they believe the answer is yes. Democracy no longer ends with a bang—in a revolution or military coup—but with a whimper: the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions, such as the judiciary and the press, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political norms. The good news is that there are several exit ramps on the road to authoritarianism. The bad news is that, by electing Trump, we have already passed the first one.
Drawing on decades of research and a wide range of historical and global examples, from 1930s Europe to contemporary Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, to the American South during Jim Crow, Levitsky and Ziblatt show how democracies die—and how ours can be saved.
Praise for How Democracies Die
“What we desperately need is a sober, dispassionate look at the current state of affairs. Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, two of the most respected scholars in the field of democracy studies, offer just that.”—The Washington Post
“Where Levitsky and Ziblatt make their mark is in weaving together political science and historical analysis of both domestic and international democratic crises; in doing so, they expand the conversation beyond Trump and before him, to other countries and to the deep structure of American democracy and politics.”—Ezra Klein, Vox
“If you only read one book for the rest of the year, read How Democracies Die. . . .This is not a book for just Democrats or Republicans. It is a book for all Americans. It is nonpartisan. It is fact based. It is deeply rooted in history. . . . The best commentary on our politics, no contest.”—Michael Morrell, former Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (via Twitter)
“A smart and deeply informed book about the ways in which democracy is being undermined in dozens of countries around the world, and in ways that are perfectly legal.”—Fareed Zakaria,CNN
Initial thoughts: I remember my 9th grade history teacher telling us that we take democracy for granted. It assumes that the majority is right, which isn't always true. In other words, he taught us that democracy is the tyranny of the majority.
In many regards, democracy does ensure that a nation flourishes. However, when those in political power disregard that laws and mores, that's when the ways are paved towards authoritarianism. How Democracies Die is a cautionary book about the future of the US, if the US doesn't learn from the histories of countries around the world where democracies died, as well as of countries where the checks and balances ensured that autocrats did not manage to establish themselves.
As a non-American, I found How Democracies Die quite enlightening because I never quite understood the American political system. Yes, I knew that the dominant political parties are the Republicans and Democrats. I learnt about the Cold War and the US-Soviet relations, the Vietnam War and also briefly about the American occupation of the Philippines after the US won the war against Spain in 1898. These, however, all pertained to American international relations. As for internal politics, I've always read the news with bemusement.
Thanks to this book, I've come to better understand the deep political divisions that's driven by identity politics as well. For instance, it didn't occur to me to unfriend anyone on Facebook just because they held different political views to mine. Yet, I kept reading about Americans doing this over the past few years. I still think it's myopic but I can also better empathise how taking politics so personally would affect relationships.
And while gerrymandering isn't uncommon in East and Southeast diviAsia, I was surprised to learn how such practices were used for racist gains in the US before, to ensure that black men wouldn't be able to vote at all, even though slavery had ended. It's sad and maddening, but also makes me glad for the progress that's been made since then. I sincerely hope that this progress will not be undone in the country touted as the Free World.
