Tag: democracy

White Rural Rage:  The Threat to American Democracy  by Tom Schaller and  Paul Waldman

White Rural Rage:  The Threat to American Democracy  by Tom Schaller and  Paul Waldman

Posted on by Jack

The book “White Rural Rage:  The Threat to American Democracy”  by Tom Schaller and  Paul Waldman brings together a huge amount of information to discuss rural areas, their problems, and potential solutions as well as the current political situation which contributes to these problems and presents a threat to American democracy.   I think that may be the longest and most complicated sentence I’ve written lately, so let me explain.

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Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point

Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point

Posted on by Jack

I just finished reading “Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point” .

It is by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt whose earlier book “How Democracies Die” I had reviewed about 4 years ago. They are professors of government at Harvard University. They like many other Americans were shocked by the violent insurrection of January 6, 2020.
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Legally destroying a democracy

Legally destroying a democracy

Posted on by Jack

I saw this article in Just Security and it reminded me of things I had just read in ‘Tyranny of the Minority’ .

The Just Security article is Tucker Carlson, Viktor Orbán and the Anti-Democracy Playbook .

The downfall of Hungarian democracy is a cautionary tale for Americans concerned about the future of democracy here.

Reading now – Tyranny of the Minority

Reading now – Tyranny of the Minority

Posted on by Jack

I just started reading ‘Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point” . So far it seems to be a great book.

It is by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt whose earlier book “How Democracies Die” I had read and reviewed about 4 years ago. I thank Michelle Goldberg whose article The Authors of ‘How Democracies Die’ Overestimated the Republicans” alerted me to this book.

The events of January 6, 2020 came as a shock to many Americans. Coups and violent insurrections happen but most of us thought they would not happen here. This book is an attempt to figure out why and how it happened. It should be very interesting reading. I’ll get back to reading and keep you posted.

Protect Democracy from President Trump

Protect Democracy from President Trump

Posted on by Jack

I’m a bit behind in my reading. I’m reading an issue to Time magazine that has been sitting on my coffee table for at least 2 weeks. There were a number of interesting articles about the state of American society but I want to discuss one of those articles today. I think there is at least one more that I will write about later.

Trench Lawfare: Inside the Battles to Save Democracy From the Trump Administration by Molly Ball starts like this but you really should read all of it.

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How Democracies Die (and get saved)

How Democracies Die (and get saved)

Posted on by Jack

I have previously written about this book (Reading now: How Democracies Die). Now that I’ve finished, I think it was even better than my earlier opinion.

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Reading now: How Democracies Die

Reading now: How Democracies Die

Posted on by Jack

I was reading an article that mentioned How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt and it sounded like an interesting book and very relevant to my earlier post on The End of Democracy.
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Democracy in Chains – why and how

Democracy in Chains – why and how

Posted on by Jack

The full title is “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America“. The author is Nancy MacLean, a professor of history and public policy at Duke University. So you can be certain that the author knows her history. In addition, there are extensive notes and a bibliography.
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