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How Democracies Die

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How Democracies Die

Written by: Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt
Narrated by: Fred Sanders
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The urgent and influential guide to the forces that have undermined democracies across the globe—forces running rampant in the United States today—hailed as “a touchstone” (The New Yorker) that “comes at exactly the right moment” (The Washington Post)

“Comprehensive, enlightening, and terrifyingly timely.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)

“[Levitsky and Ziblatt] expand the conversation beyond Trump and before him, to other countries and to the deep structure of American democracy and politics.”—Ezra Klein

WINNER OF THE GOLDSMITH BOOK PRIZE • SHORTLISTED FOR THE LIONEL GELBER PRIZE • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: 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. Now the question is, can our democracy be saved?

Praise for How Democracies Die

“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 Elections & Political Process Ideologies & Doctrines Modern Political Science Politics & Government Liberalism Socialism Social justice Capitalism Authoritarianism Middle East Latin America Russia Iran
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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.

The unwritten of a functional democracy

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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

Brilliant

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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.

Important

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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".

An Interesting take on democratic history

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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.

Biased, one sided, and blatantly dishonest

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