How Democracies Die: Analysis Part 1
Democracy, a major mode of representative-style government practiced by over 57% of nations today, is not invincible, or at least not to political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. In their 2018 debut, How Democracies Die, the two take an introspective look at the patterns leading up to the collapse of democratic institutions across the world in order to “defend [American] democracy” ( Levitsky ) as its rise in autocratic leaders, insufficient political party gatekeeping and normalcy of extremism have seemingly shaped the nation indefinitely.
Both authors take time in acknowledging the seriousness of the democratic situation uncoiling in the United States as they first give an introductory overview of how President Trump, a once unlikely candidate for President, rose to power. By comparing Trump’s unexpected rise to power for those of Hugo Chavez and Alberto Fujimore, the duo explain how “ [political] alliances provide outsiders with enough responsibility … to become viable candidates” worthy of winning the popular vote. Essentially meaning that through partnering with alliances of major parties, many autocratic figures are supported by powerful political leaders who have made the mistake of thinking that they can control such contemporaries, thus leading to significant miscalculation that puts democracy at risk.
Furthermore, Ziblatt and Levitsky also discuss how heavy partisanship of political parties may lead to unsuccessful gatekeeping of democratic leaders. They especially emphasized how the refusal of political parties to work together to keep radical demagogues from power hinders the advancement of democratic and constitutional principles towards the latter half of the book’s second chapter, Gatekeeping in America. Additionally, they scale these occurrences by putting recent political events in close comparison to the past by looking at how “gatekeeping institutions go back to the founding of the American republic” and how current leaders, such as President Trump, were able to fully bypass certain guardrails despite the sheer scale of linkage institutions ( political parties ) in the States. As well as naming the failure of the Democratic and Republican parties to keep potential autocrats from power, Ziblatt and Levitsky finally name the three junctures at which these two parties have failed: the invisible primary, the actual primary, and the election itself. By listing out a tangible timeline for readers to grasp, both authors make the obvious clear: Lack of partisan cooperation is the precursor to democratic breakdown and should be monitored heavily in the States for everyone’s good.
Cited Works:
Levitsky, Steven, and Daniel Ziblatt. How Democracies Die. Crown, 2018.
