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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
“History will teach us, of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the great number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people; commencing demagogues, and ending tyrants.”
Third or fourth time through, always insightful and important
Great example of popular political science writing. The argument--that the unwritten rules and norms of democracy are being systematically eroded--is persuasive and backed up by historical and contemporary examples. The focus is on the US, unsurprisingly, but that is of course where the rest of world has projected its images of democracy for a long time, and where now the far right everywhere looks up to in terms of how to (democratically) achieve a Fascist dictatorship. Scary stuff--even more now, a couple years and a coup attempt later--but necessary for everyone not looking forward to another 1930s.
Very interesting book, especially for these times, but I wish it didn't deal so heavily with the aspects of democracy most people can't do anything about and spent some time addressing the masses.
informative
medium-paced
Como nota positiva, es un buen repaso a cosas que han pasado, están pasando y van a pasar en las democracias occidentales, incluyendo nuestra querida españita.
Como nota mala, los autores se centran en América y Estados Unidos, lo que tiene cierto sentido por su nacionalidad, pero pasan muy de puntillas por la deriva de las democracias populistas hispanoamericanas.
Había leído grandes alabanzas y seguramente esperaba un libro algo distinto. Aún así, recomendable.
Como nota mala, los autores se centran en América y Estados Unidos, lo que tiene cierto sentido por su nacionalidad, pero pasan muy de puntillas por la deriva de las democracias populistas hispanoamericanas.
Había leído grandes alabanzas y seguramente esperaba un libro algo distinto. Aún así, recomendable.
This was an interesting one. I wish I read it 2/3 years ago, as the landscape seems to have changed so much since it was published. I also felt might have benefited from a Conservative voice offering a alternative response that perhaps tried to sell the alternative as it might have made the issue starker, in terms of where we are and how bad things could get!
challenging
informative
slow-paced
I really appreciated the historical analysis of various countries and how the trend isn't unique to any one culture or period of time. The outcomes of other countries' political landscape was also inspiring, seeing how many began down a path to authoritarian regimes but then steered away.
The historical review of the attitude of political parties in the US towards each other was especially illuminating. I feel like I have grown up entirely in the age of believing that your opposing political party is your enemy rather than your rival. We've been traveling down this path for far longer than I realized and the implications are pretty scary.
Of course there was about a chapter on the presidency of Trump, but that wasn't the focus of the book; his presidency was described as more of a symptom rather than cause of the political issues facing the US.
The historical review of the attitude of political parties in the US towards each other was especially illuminating. I feel like I have grown up entirely in the age of believing that your opposing political party is your enemy rather than your rival. We've been traveling down this path for far longer than I realized and the implications are pretty scary.
Of course there was about a chapter on the presidency of Trump, but that wasn't the focus of the book; his presidency was described as more of a symptom rather than cause of the political issues facing the US.
informative
medium-paced