When I started noticing references to HOW DEMOCRACIES DIE, (written by Levitsky and Ziblatt)‚ I thought I should buy that book. Then I remembered – I own that book and read it half-way through D J Trump’s first term. Then I turned to PERPLEXITY to ask if the book had been updated, and the answer was no. Then I thought that we at PLATO should update it in an SDG, and that’s what I’m proposing.
In our weekly discussions we’ll discuss what’s happening now in each of the seven categories discussed in this book. We’ll also try to figure out how we’ve gotten to the situation we’re in now and how, if ever, we can make change happen.
Week 1: Intro & Overview
Chapter 1: Fateful Alliances - especially making bad ones and destroying good ones
Chapter 2: Gatekeeping in America - is it possible
Chapter 3: The Great Republican Abdication - importance of parties to uphold democratic norms
Chapter 4: Subverting Democracy - historic and current examples
Chapter 5: The Guardians of Democracy - are there any?
Chapter 6: The Unwritten Rules of American Democracy - do they still exist?
Chapter 7: The Unraveling - what's new?
Chapter 8: Trump Against the Guardrails - including Project 2025
Chapter 9: Saving Democracy - the authors' prescriptions and our own
HOW DEMOCRACIES DIE, Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt
Current newspapers and magazines
There are many books that can add to an understanding of what's happening now and what could follow. Here are some. They are not required reading.
TWILIGHT OF DEMOCRACY and AUTOCRACY INC., Anne Applebaum
DEMOCRACY AWAKENING, Heather Cox Richardson
1984, George Orwell
PATHS OUT OF DIXIE, Robert Mickey
WHO IS GOVERNMENT?, Michael Lewis
AFTER THE FALL, Ben Rhodes
Books supporting Trump also exist. Here are some:
BIG AGENDS: PRESIDENT TRUMP'S PLAN TO SAVE AMERICA, David Horowitz, 2017
THE CASE FOR TRUMP, Victor Davis Hanson, 2024 Edition