How Democracies Die
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How Democracies Die
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Narrated by:
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Fred Sanders
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Written by:
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Steven Levitsky
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Daniel Ziblatt
About this listen
Two Harvard professors explain the dangerous world we face today
Democracies can die with a coup d'état - or they can die slowly. This happens most deceptively when in piecemeal fashion, with the election of an authoritarian leader, the abuse of governmental power and the complete repression of opposition. All three steps are being taken around the world - not least with the election of Donald Trump - and we must all understand how we can stop them.
In How Democracies Die, Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt draw insightful lessons from across history - from the rule of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile to the quiet undermining of Turkey's constitutional system by President Recip Erdogan - to shine a light on regime breakdown across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Notably they point to the dangers of an authoritarian leader faced with a major crisis.
Based on years of research, they present a deep understanding of how and why democracies die; an alarming analysis of how democracy is being subverted today in the US and beyond; and a guide for maintaining and repairing a threatened democracy, for governments, political parties and individuals.
History doesn't repeat itself. But we can protect our democracy by learning its lessons, before it's too late.
What the critics say
“The best death-of-democracy book I read in 2018.” (Carlos Lozada, Washington Post)
“Levitsky and Ziblatt show how democracies have collapsed elsewhere - not just through violent coups, but more commonly (and insidiously) through a gradual slide into authoritarianism.... How Democracies Die is a lucid and essential guide to what can happen here.” (New York Times)
“The defining political book, so far, of 2018.” (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
What listeners say about How Democracies Die
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- WJ
- 2020-07-30
The unwritten of a functional democracy
Comprehensively details the institutional norms not found in laws and written constitutions that democracies follow to remain fictional. Perhaps more importantly, gives harrowing examples on how these norms breakdown and the consequences of those breakdowns on our democratic institutions.
Steven Levistsky and Daniel Ziblatt uncompromisingly show us the brick wall that the hardball politics and racial voting blocks of post-1965 America is up against and inspire us to fight for a country with cultural diversity and democratic stability.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Matthew
- 2018-03-20
Brilliant
Love the detail case studies, learned a lot from this book. The way the book studied the actions of how previous dictators have acted reminded me a lot of The Dictator's Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2018-09-17
Important
a book for anyone who cares about saving democracy. A detailed look at how what we have can and seems to be going in the wrong direction.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2020-07-07
An Interesting take on democratic history
I enjoyed this book, it's thoughtful and we'll put together, and the way the author forms arguments is insightful and shows a good understanding of political history. The bias of the authors is clear and no attempts are made at hiding it, this is the best we can hope for in the sense of transparency these days. The authors also ironically use allot of the same devisive language that is argued in the these pages by political parties. And I could do without the whole chapter of the orange man bad narrative we get enough of that in the media. I would however love to hear the authors opinions on the loss of trust in media if their argument is that they are "referees".
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2022-01-06
Biased, one sided, and blatantly dishonest
Populism is just democracy that elites, such as this author, don't approve of.
Very one-sided, apparently every problem that exists today is because of Republicans. Identify politics doesn't exist, and the hateful rhetoric and demonization of white people apparently doesn't register on the author's radar. America's elite are very out of touch.
The only value this book has is as a window into the worldview of America's Progressive Elites.
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