by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt -2018
Book Review by Ray Herrmann
Until the present, most democracies have died from violent overthrow, usually by a military coup. During the Cold War period three out of four democracies died this way (Argentina, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Guatemala, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand, Turkey and Uruguay). Now most democracies die by a more gradual and subtle method.
Here, democracy's erosion occurs by more "legal" methods, in the sense that they are approved by the legislature or accepted by the courts and voting still exists. But the legislature intimidates, the courts are stacked, the Media is controlled by the authoritarian leader. Voting is restricted through new laws and the constitution may be set aside (example given: Hugo Chavez in Venezuela in 2003).
Like Chavez, other elected leaders have learned how to subvert democratic institutions in Georgia, Hungary, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Ukraine. This electoral road to breakdown is dangerously deceptive and it occurs gradually.
Once in power, will the authoritarian leader be constrained by democratic institutions or subvert them? Defending these institutions requires robust democratic norms. Will an autocratic leader subvert democratic institutions or be restrained by them? It seems to be dependent on the legislators adhering to democratic norms instead of any constitutional provisions (which can be set aside).
How vulnerable is American Democracy to this backsliding? Even in America, extremist demagogues have occasionally emerged (Henry Ford, Huey Long, Joseph McCarthy, and George Wallace). The test is whether political parties work to prevent them from gaining power. But isolating political extremists requires political courage.
In 2016 America elected a demagogue and did so at a time when the norms that once protected our democracy were weak. Table 1 (page 22) lists four Key Indicators of Authoritarian behavior (Donald Trump exhibits all four!).
The responsibility for weeding out authoritarians lies with political parties and party leaders. This successful "gatekeeping" requires that mainstream parties defeat extremist behavior.
Extreme polarization can kill Democracies. Donald Trump was not the cause, but just a symptom of our seriois degradation.
Two norms that seem fundamental to a functioning democracy are Mutual Toleration and Institutional Forbearance (which is the idea that politicians should exercise restraint in deploying their institutional prerogatives). But in 1979 Newt Gingrich arrived in Washington with a vision of politics as warfare, which runs counter to the political notion of compromise. In 1994 the era of politics as warfare accelerated with Newt Gingrich becoming Speaker of the House. This notion has since intensified, as more cooperative Republicans were replaced with those on the far right (the party of NO). Today, we face a paralyzed government, with many Republicans bent on destroying our democracy.
Democratic breakdown is often the result of sequential unanticipated events occurring in a weak government. Today, with the persistent support on the MAGA minions, survival of our democracy is seriously threatened. And Republicans, with their hostile win-at-any-cost are no help.
I think this 231 page book (and 65 pages of reference) should be required reading in all High Schools. We need to become aware that the consequences of our hostile "winner take all" -no compromise- attitude are likely to soon destroy us. Our government is highly partisan and fragmented to an extent that we are at great risk of collapsing.