How Democracies Die Review by Hank

How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (2018) I’m writing this review backwards, giving you my overall assessment first, and then providing a detailed summary and reference to other reviews. I have read most of the book (and skimmed through the remainder), and I’d have to say that the first two-thirds of the book as well as the last chapter provide the most succinct writing that I have seen for presenting a worldwide and historical context for understanding America’s current political situation—and by that I don’t mean only Trump; I mean the larger picture of the potential for (and the defenses against) our democracy experiencing a decline into a corrupt, “patrimonial,” or even authoritarian political culture. This is not the best book on the general subject of democracy’s susceptibility to decay. That would most likely be Francis Fukuyama’s 500+ page work, Political Order and Political Decay, but How Democracies Die is a more accessible account of the process. At only 232 easily read (i.e., well-written) pages, though, we may need more intellectual nourishment for a semester-long course, but what it does present will be clearly understood and fascinating to read. My main reservation, apart from its brevity, is that Chapters 7 and 8 deal directly with the politics of the most recent American presidencies (Clinton through Trump) and therefore may provoke too partisan a reaction among the members of our class. My suggestion is to limit the discussion of those chapters to a single week and, more importantly, to supplement How Democracies Die with selections from the Fukuyama book (which I can provide in pdf format) in order to provide a full semester (e.g., about 350 pages) on this subject-matter. The authors argue that over the past 50 years, democracies around the world have eroded in many places, but they typically do so in small, barely visible, steps. And behind their destruction, most often, are national executives elected initially in fair and free elections. “There are no tanks in the streets. Constitutions and other nominally democratic institutions remain in place. People still vote. Elected autocrats maintain a veneer of democracy while eviscerating its substance.” Levitsky and Ziblatt, both Professors of Government at Harvard, present examples from many places, including Argentina under Peron, Venezuela under Chavez, Peru under Fujimora, Russia under Putin, Chile’s right- wing response to leftist Allende, and several others. The condition that they cite as most often responsible is extreme political partisanship, a condition eerily reflective of how today’s American politics is often characterized. The book also provides examples of how polarized politics has, in some places, stepped back from the brink, preventing the full development of authoritarian, anti-democratic regimes--such as in Finland and Belgium between the two world wars, and in Austria more recently. I should point out that it is not necessary to have prior knowledge of these situations. However, one does have to trust that the authors are characterizing those histories accurately—or do some collateral reading to verify the basic facts they present. American history is not slighted either. There are discussions of Hamilton vs. Jefferson, Huey Long, Joseph McCarthy, and George Wallace. The failure of Roosevelt to enlarge the Supreme Court to enable his reforms to proceed and the sorry ending of Richard Nixon’s presidency are also discussed. The birth of political polarization is presented as an outgrowth of political parties attempting to be more open and democratic in their selection of presidential nominees—an interesting dynamic with unintended consequences. Reviews have been hugely positive for this very recently published book, not just from liberal sources but from at least middle-of-the-road venues such as the Wall St. Journal, Foreign Affairs, and the Financial Times. Francis Fukuyama himself wrote this: “Two years ago, a book like this could not have been written: two leading political scientists who are expert in the breakdown of democracy in other parts of the world using that knowledge to inform Americans of the dangers their democracy faces today. We owe the authors a debt of thanks for bringing their deep understanding to bear on the central political issue of the day." For “advantages” and “disadvantages” see my opening paragraph. Suffice it to say, I am strongly in favor of including this book as one of our finalists, particularly if we can agree to supplement it with reading from Fukuyama’s book. I will make one final comment about whether this book is sufficiently “controversial” for our class. Except among those enamored of the current occupant of the White House, the authors’ analysis would seem to make sense to a generally knowledgeable public. And yet many of the examples they present employ facts that are likely to be beyond the prior knowledge of most of us. So, yes, I might project that our discussion of this book may not have the level of argument that other books might. However, in the same way that other books we have read produce highly animated and lengthy discussions among us without that type of “I’m right/you’re wrong” controversy, I think this book would meet the larger challenge of being useful, and even critical, to our understanding of the political world we face today. .

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