The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It Hardcover – Illustrated, March 5, 2018

Ok. I've read a lot of things about populism, tribalism, current authoritarian trends and so forth. What I've been looking for is a synthesis that successfully pulls together all those threads and assembles a coherent analysis of the threats we face.I've found a synthesis of extraordinary worth. It is this book.

This is an excellent book, well-written, thorough, and insightful. I got it as part of my research on populism, for a lecture that I'll be giving, and I find that I won't need any other sources - I could lift my entire lecture just from this book. Of course I won't, but the book is wonderful! It is well-organized, clear, and lucid, with chapters well-paced, showing how American populism has evolved, and its connection to autocratic government. I find no weaknesses in it, and recommend it enthusiastically.

An academic piece: Yascha Mounk is a Lecturer at Harvard and this work follows an academic technique of establishing a diagnostic framework and ordering the presentation about it.“A quarter century ago, most citizens of liberal democracies were very satisfied with their governments and gave high approval ratings to their institutions; now, they are more disillusioned than they have ever been.” Liberal democracy in demise.“…a liberal is somebody who is committed to basic values like freedom of speech, the separation of powers, or the protection of individual rights.“A democracy is a set of binding electoral institutions that effectively translates popular views into public policy.“A liberal democracy is simply a political system that is both liberal and democratic—one that both protects individual rights and translates popular views into public policy.”He realizes “liberal regimes can be undemocratic despite having regular, competitive elections. This is especially likely to happen where the political system is so skewed in favor of the elite that elections rarely serve to translate popular views into public policy.”His basic argument is the liberal democratic institutions are under attack in the Western world and may be lost to threatening forms of populists occurring here and across the EU – what is becoming a common theme in many works.The high point of his work is his rich familiarity with the detailed struggles going on in a swath of countries, both in what has been happening and what could happen under the speeding demise of liberal and democratic forms, Hungary, Poland, Turkey and America being prime examples of countries where liberal democracy is being threatened.He allows America, pre-Trump, as undemocratic liberalism -- where the political system is so skewed in favor of the elite that elections rarely serve to translate popular views into public policy – but treats his election as a populist victory. France, Germany, Netherlands, and Great Britain are in processes of transition along with others where established political lines are falling away.“Unless the defenders of liberal democracy manage to stand up to the populists, illiberal democracy will always be in danger of descending into outright dictatorship.”No mention of globalization or Asia but attributes 80% of lost employment in USA to technology, the rest to trade.His solution to the ills of undemocratic liberalism ‘is to abolish tutelary institutions, to boot elites out of power, and to put the people back in charge.’But how to get from here to there? If those in power serving the elite are not replaced by leaders committed to liberal democracy, as defined, its opposite will rule and he has no theme for how that change will occur; the most embarrassing being a drift off into reinstalling ‘Civics’ in the class room.He notes that each new generation has less faith in democracy as they see it and less faith in prevailing political structures and cries: The Young Won’t Save Us.Here he may be wrong. The Millianians seeing where liberal democracy has vanished are pushing for new directions supporting more progressive or radical alternatives as opposed to Mounk’s basic theme of repairing what was virtuous. “…they are much more likely to vote for antisystem parties in many countries around the world.”Seeing ‘the system’ as broken, why not?The work is informative in many aspects on what has happened but weak on why and its remedies.Here he could have referenced another political scientist Sheldon S. Wolin who warned of all this in Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Political Thought, especially his 2004 expanded edition with corporate control (“Democracy Incorporated”) incompatible with liberal democracy as the author defines it and all predating the rise of the populist revolt.Interesting but a little tedious and perhaps better without his family history.Read if not following events in other countries; here it is useful.

This is a perceptive analysis of "why our freedom is in danger", and I highly recommend it. The "how to save it" part has many excellent suggestions, some of which might need further refinement. But the book as a whole is an important contribution to discussion on the future of democracy. Whether the reader agrees with every part of it or not, it points to problems we need to recognize, discussions we need to have, goals on which we may be able to find consensus, and possible steps to reach those goals.Something to bear in mind throughout the book is the meaning of the phrase "liberal democracy". The opposite of "liberal" in this case is "illiberal"; this has nothing to do with "liberal" versus "conservative" political views, but goes back to the original meaning of "liberal": suitable for free people (Latin "liberalis"). Illiberal democracies risk becoming oligarchies or dictatorships, whether of the right or the left.The 24 page introduction covers much of the same ground as the rest of the book, but I'm not sure it adds much value. If you find it annoying or boring, then skip to Part One and Part Two, where the author presents and develops the same ideas in a more complete and coherent way.Part Three, "Remedies", looks at ways to counteract trends such as toxic expressions of nationalism and extreme concentration of wealth to create an environment in which democracy can function more effectively. All of these suggestions deserve serious discussion and study, but a few might need some adjustment to avoid unintended consequences. For example, Mounk suggests that higher taxes on undeveloped land would encourage more housing development. While that may be true, land use policy should also consider environmental impacts ranging from destruction of wetlands to the effect of deforestation on climate.

Brilliant analysis and a wake up call for all of us worried about the present state of liberal democracy.

A very interesting view of the problem. I recommend the book.

If we care about liberal democracy we have to admit that these are troubling times. When searching for answers, seldom do we come across the work of an academic that transcends self-serving over-conceptualization to become a practical analytical tool which would allow a clear grasp on reality. This book is one of those exceptions. Mounk posits the premise that liberal democracies are deconsolidating, leading to illiberal democracies or undemocratic liberalism. This is not an academic mumbo-jumbo exercise, but an impeccably logical argument, which provides an effective way of identifying the root causes of the rise of populism, and more importantly, once identified, begin to decipher how to address them. Mounk has many ideas for the long road ahead in the restoration of liberal democracy. The main merit of his ideas, aside from the obvious fact of fuelling a much necessary debate, is that they are firmly rooted in the core values of liberalism and democracy, addressing the structural causes of populism’s success without pandering to it. His is also a call for activism in the unwavering defense of liberal democracy. A must read.

We are living in interesting times, where nothing can be taken for guaranteed, even if it is liberal democracy that has been existing in the country for long. The type of leaders emerging within democracies across the world, the tenure and content public discourse and the everyday challenges made to the established engagement norms, all point towards winds of change.It is this phenomenon that Mounk very lucidly and comprehensively explains in this book- explaining the emerging trend, the reasons behind these trends and what possible remedies to arrest shifts in the political systems prevailing in consolidated liberal democracies. Bigger question is that whether Liberalism (protection of individual rights) and Democracy (supremacy of popular will) can continue to go together or their independent existence (either liberal or democratic) may present a more appealing and likely futuristic political set-up.Author uses his academic astuteness and global experiences, mainly from North America and Western European Countries, to explain the threats to liberal democracies in a way, which is easy for layman with no political science background to not only understand fully, but pause to deliberate upon.Mounk presents several supporting surveys and trends to underline the declining appeal of Democracy: Young are less interested in politics, growing appeal for strong leaders (2017: 33%-Germany, 48% France & 50% Britain) who may not bother about congress or elections, and living in democracy is not essential for large part of populace instead there is growing acceptance of army rule. The reasons for this democracy recession could be disappointment with present situation and also limited understanding of what it means to live in authoritarian society, among the younger population.In this context, there has been rise of Populist leaders, who present themselves as strong leaders, with scant regard to democratic norms and institutions, and claim to be true nationalists. Once in power, these Populists can take society away from being a liberal democracy to illiberal democracy and finally authoritarian rule, following almost a predictable trajectory.Mounk has almost presented almost a handbook, which explains the Populists winning behaviors and strategies, after studying across rise of Populist leaders across America and Western European countries (Turkey. Poland, Hungry, France, Germany, Italy, Greece eg.). It includes almost predictable narratives being used to get elected and similarly predictable actions post being elected as a leader. The underline game is to present oneself as true nationalist and representative of common man and anyone who questions the elected leader is a traitor.Mounk presents three reasons for the growing appeal of Populist strongman type leaders-prevailing economic and demographic anxiety among the majority of the populace and coupled with advent of social media. He further goes on to suggest some remedies, which not only includes resisting the power groping actions of Populists, but also seeking opponents to present more appealing and viable alternate development and growth agenda, explained in common language.There can be debate on the exhaustiveness or the relative significance of the three reasons for the decline of liberal democracies, and also the applicability of proposed remedies in all contexts. But there is convincing case made against the growing appeal of Populists and threat to Liberal Democracy, and hence the need for the concerned populace to actively work towards arresting and possibly reversing the trend.Choosing to live between “Democracy without Rights” or “Rights without Democracy” is not an easy one, especially those who have lived better part of their lives in Liberal Democratic system.

Political scientist Yascha Mounk's book is about two different axes of evolution of liberal democracies: Illiberal democracy ("democracy without rights") and liberal non-democracy ("rights without democracy"). These two axes are studied via analysis of recent instances of populism (illiberal democracy) or of supranational agreements, like the European Union (liberal non-democracy). There are some interesting analyses of the root causes behind populism (economic difficulties). However, for the second part of the title ("our freedom is in danger and how to save it"), the book remains rather general. Overall, a good analysis of recent political developments, but not a how-to guide on fixing things.