How Democracies Die - Book Review

 Title: How Democracies Die

Authors: Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt

Available: Amazon Kindle

The problem with democracy is that it is a bad form of government but the other forms of government are so much worse. We have to accept that any form of government is going to be less than perfect. Democracy can be messy. The word 'democracy' means different things to different people. To some, such as the writers of this book, true democracy, majority rule, can lead to a 'tyranny' of the majority. This 'tyranny' can be tempered by a constitution protecting minority and individual rights - but not always. Examples of regimes ignoring the constitution abound in this book. The writers' view of a resilient democracy seems to be one where mainstream party leaders called 'Gatekeepers' restrict who have access to power. The authors submit that this is a better form of democracy than one that allows anyone to contest for state power. Gatekeepers prevent 'unsuitable' people to enter the political arena. Only people approved by these party establishments would be allowed to enter the contest for state power. The problem with that is that sometimes party establishments and their leaders can be corrupted and/or become disconnected from the majority of the population being governed. In most countries, most people have little chance in a contest for state power simply because of the financial resources required. That means, the rich have more access to state power. That seems to be ok with the authors. Sometimes, political and economic elites co-opt the political establishment and it takes a populous movement to overthrow them. The US owes its very existence to the rise of a populous movement. There was war but we delude ourselves if we think that entrenched political and corporate elites will give up power easily. Very often, the rise of populists leads to uncomfortable situations, social dislocation or even war. Elites who control the political establishment want to maintain the status quo as that ensures their survival and prosperity. However, very often, people rebel against this leading to populous movements. The writers have made it clear that they do not support Trump but what about the conditions that led to Trumpism? This book is a neo-liberal attempt to suggest that the pre-Trump status quo was ok. Over 70 million Americans (%40+ ) who voted for Trump in this 2020 election do not seem to agree.

Raymond D. Grant