NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A call to reform our antiquated political institutions before it's too late-from the authors of How Demacies Die
"[Levitsky and Ziblatt] write with terrifying clarity about how the forces of the right have co-opted the enshrined rules to exert their tyranny."-The Washington Post
A NEWSWEEK BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
America is undergoing a massive experiment: It is moving, in fits and starts, toward a multiracial demacy, something few societies have ever done. But the prospect of change has sparked an authoritarian backlash that threatens the very foundations of our political system. Why is demacy under assault here, and not in other wealthy, diversifying nations? And what can we do to save it?
With the clarity and brilliance that made their first book, How Demacies Die, a global bestseller, Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt offer a coherent framework for understanding these volatile times. They draw on a wealth of examples-from 1930s France to present-day Thailand-to explain why and how political parties turn against demacy. They then show how our Constitution makes us uniquely vulnerable to attacks from within: It is a pernicious enabler of minority rule, allowing partisan minorities to consistently thwart and even rule over popular majorities. Most modern demacies-from Germany and Sweden to Argentina and New Zealand-have eliminated outdated institutions like elite upper chambers, indirect elections, and lifetime tenure for judges. The United States lags dangerously behind.
In this revelatory book, Levitsky and Ziblatt issue an urgent call to reform our politics. It's a daunting task, but we have remade our country before-most notably, after the Civil War and during the Progressive Era. And now we are at a crossroads: America will either become a multiracial demacy or cease to be a demacy at all.
