Buy now to get the main key ideas from Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt's Tyranny of the Minority In Tyranny of the Minority (2023), Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt argue that outdated parts of the US Constitution enable minority rule and undermine democracy. The two Harvard professors explore the Republican Party’s deviation from democratic norms and the authoritarian backlash to an increasingly diverse nation, particularly during Donald Trump’s presidency. They highlight historical and contemporary examples to illustrate the importance of political parties accepting defeat and rejecting extremism, asserting that Americans need to embrace constitutional reform to prevent minority tyranny and ensure the majority’s will is reflected in governance.
Get the Summary of Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt's Tyranny of the Minority in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. "Tyranny of the Minority" by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt explores the concept of minority rule in democratic systems, focusing on the importance of accepting electoral defeat and the dangers of political radicalization. The book traces the origins of peaceful power transfers to the U.S. in 1801 and emphasizes the role of future electoral potential and the absence of existential threats in facilitating such transitions. The authors highlight historical instances where fear of losing status led to resistance against democracy, such as in early 20th-century Germany and 21st-century Thailand...
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
THE MUCH-ANTICIPATED FOLLOW-UP TO INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER HOW DEMOCRACIES DIE – essential reading ahead of the 2024 US election ‘Just like their previous work, this book is concise, readable, and convincing’ Anne Applebaum, author of Twilight of Democracy ------------------------------------- How has democracy become so threatened – and what can we do to save it? With the clarity and brilliance that made their first book, How Democracies Die, a global bestseller, leading Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt offer a coherent new framework for understanding the dangerous times we live in. They draw on a wealth of examples – from the Capitol riots, to Edwardian Britain, from 1930s France to present-day Thailand – to explain why political parties turn against democracy, and how to see when this will happen. In this razor-sharp analysis, Levitsky and Ziblatt offer in particular an urgent warning about right-wing efforts to undermine the very foundations of the American political system. Multiracial democracy is something few societies have ever achieved – but even the prospect of this change can spark an authoritarian backlash whose dangerous effects will resonate long into the future. Donald Trump’s astonishing lead in the run-up to the Republican nomination, even after his indictment and imprisonment on charges of election interference, is evidence of that. With its attention on factors from election losses to demographic change and voting rights, its urgent call for a reform of our politics to balance the need for majority rule with the need for minority protections, and a citizens’ movement to put enough pressure on lawmakers to act before it’s too late, Tyranny of the Minority is a must-read for everyone keen to see more vibrant democracy – and to understand where future threats may come from. ------------------------------------- ‘Provocative and readable’ David Runciman on How Democracies Die 'A useful primer on the importance of norms, institutional restraints and civic participation in maintaining a democracy' Barack Obama on How Democracies Die
Get the Summary of Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt's How Democracies Die in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. "How Democracies Die" by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt examines the erosion of democratic norms and the rise of authoritarian leaders through historical and contemporary examples. The authors highlight the cases of Mussolini, Hitler, and Chávez, where political elites mistakenly believed they could control these figures, only to see them consolidate power. They outline four key indicators of authoritarian behavior: rejection of democratic norms, delegitimization of opponents, endorsement of violence, and willingness to restrict civil liberties...
This study explores the following puzzle: Upon national unification, why was Germany formed as a federal state and Italy a unitary state? Ziblatt's answer to this question will be of interest to scholars of international relations, comparative politics, political development, and political and economic history.
A brutal, bloody, and at times hopeful history of the vote; a primer on the opponents fighting to take it away; and a playbook for how we can save our democracy before it’s too late—from the former U.S. Attorney General on the front lines of this fight Voting is our most important right as Americans—“the right that protects all the others,” as Lyndon Johnson famously said when he signed the Voting Rights Act—but it’s also the one most violently contested throughout U.S. history. Since the gutting of the act in the landmark Shelby County v. Holder case in 2013, many states have passed laws restricting the vote. After the 2020 election, President Trump’s effort to overturn the vote has evolved into a slow-motion coup, with many Republicans launching an all-out assault on our democracy. The vote seems to be in unprecedented peril. But the peril is not at all unprecedented. America is a fragile democracy, Eric Holder argues, whose citizens have only had unfettered access to the ballot since the 1960s. He takes readers through three dramatic stories of how the vote was won: first by white men, through violence and insurrection; then by white women, through protests and mass imprisonments; and finally by African Americans, in the face of lynchings and terrorism. Next, he dives into how the vote has been stripped away since Shelby—a case in which Holder was one of the parties. He ends with visionary chapters on how we can reverse this tide of voter suppression and become a true democracy where every voice is heard and every vote is counted. Full of surprising history, intensive analysis, and actionable plans for the future, this is a powerful primer on our most urgent political struggle from one of the country's leading advocates.
The author presents a warning of what could happen to America if the Left realizes its objectives which include replacing free speech with political correctness, destroying the American economy by redistributing income, and dividing America into racial and ethnic enclaves under the guise of "diversity" and "social justice."
How do democracies form and what makes them die? Daniel Ziblatt revisits this timely and classic question in a wide-ranging historical narrative that traces the evolution of modern political democracy in Europe from its modest beginnings in 1830s Britain to Adolf Hitler's 1933 seizure of power in Weimar Germany. Based on rich historical and quantitative evidence, the book offers a major reinterpretation of European history and the question of how stable political democracy is achieved. The barriers to inclusive political rule, Ziblatt finds, were not inevitably overcome by unstoppable tides of socioeconomic change, a simple triumph of a growing middle class, or even by working class collective action. Instead, political democracy's fate surprisingly hinged on how conservative political parties - the historical defenders of power, wealth, and privilege - recast themselves and coped with the rise of their own radical right. With striking modern parallels, the book has vital implications for today's new and old democracies under siege.
