Steven Levitsky

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "Comprehensive, enlightening, and terrifyingly timely."--The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) WINNER OF THE GOLDSMITH BOOK PRIZE - SHORTLISTED FOR THE LIONEL GELBER PRIZE - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post - Time - Foreign Affairs - WBUR - PasteDonald Trump's presidency has raised a question that many of us never thought we'd be asking: Is our democracy in danger? Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have spent more than twenty years studying the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, and they believe the answer is yes. Democracy no longer ends with a bang--in a revolution or military coup--but with a whimper: the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions, such as the judiciary and the press, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political norms. The good news is that there are several exit ramps on the road to authoritarianism. The bad news is that, by electing Trump, we have already passed the first one.Drawing on decades of research and a wide range of historical and global examples, from 1930s Europe to contemporary Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, to the American South during Jim Crow, Levitsky and Ziblatt show how democracies die--and how ours can be saved.Praise for How Democracies Die"What we desperately need is a sober, dispassionate look at the current state of affairs. Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, two of the most respected scholars in the field of democracy studies, offer just that."--The Washington Post "Where Levitsky and Ziblatt make their mark is in weaving together political science and historical analysis of both domestic and international democratic crises; in doing so, they expand the conversation beyond Trump and before him, to other countries and to the deep structure of American democracy and politics." -- Ezra Klein, Vox "If you only read one book for the rest of the year, read How Democracies Die. . . .This is not a book for just Democrats or Republicans. It is a book for all Americans. It is nonpartisan. It is fact based. It is deeply rooted in history. . . . The best commentary on our politics, no contest."--Michael Morrell, former Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (via Twitter)"A smart and deeply informed book about the ways in which democracy is being undermined in dozens of countries around the world, and in ways that are perfectly legal."--Fareed Zakaria, CNN

A call to reform our antiquated political institutions before it’s too late—from the New York Times bestselling authors of How Democracies DieAmerica is undergoing a massive experiment: It is moving, in fits and starts, toward a multiracial democracy, something few societies have ever done. But the prospect of change has sparked an authoritarian backlash that threatens the very foundations of our political system. Why is this happening here, and not in other diversifying nations? And what can we do to save our democracy?With the clarity and brilliance that made their first book, How Democracies Die, a global bestseller, Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt offer a coherent framework for understanding these volatile times. They draw on a wealth of examples—from 1930s France to present-day Thailand—to explain why and how political parties turn against democracy: When political leaders realize they can no longer win at the ballot box, they begin to attack the system from within, condoning violent extremists and using the law as a weapon. Unfortunately, our Constitution makes us uniquely vulnerable. It is a pernicious enabler of minority rule, allowing partisan minorities to consistently thwart and even rule over popular majorities. Most modern democracies—from Germany and Sweden to Argentina and New Zealand—have eliminated outdated institutions like elite upper chambers, indirect elections, and lifetime tenure for judges. The United States lags dangerously behind.In this revelatory book, Levitsky and Ziblatt issue an urgent call to perfect our national experiment. It’s a daunting task, but we have remade our country before—most notably, after the Civil War and during the Progressive Era. And now we are at a crossroads: America will either become a multiracial democracy or it will cease to be a democracy at all.

Competitive authoritarian regimes – in which autocrats submit to meaningful multiparty elections but engage in serious democratic abuse – proliferated in the post–Cold War era. Based on a detailed study of 35 cases in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and post-communist Eurasia, this book explores the fate of competitive authoritarian regimes between 1990 and 2008. It finds that where social, economic, and technocratic ties to the West were extensive, as in Eastern Europe and the Americas, the external cost of abuse led incumbents to cede power rather than crack down, which led to democratization. Where ties to the West were limited, external democratizing pressure was weaker and countries rarely democratized. In these cases, regime outcomes hinged on the character of state and ruling party organizations. Where incumbents possessed developed and cohesive coercive party structures, they could thwart opposition challenges, and competitive authoritarian regimes survived; where incumbents lacked such organizational tools, regimes were unstable but rarely democratized.

Why the world’s most resilient dictatorships are products of violent revolutionRevolution and Dictatorship explores why dictatorships born of social revolution―such as those in China, Cuba, Iran, the Soviet Union, and Vietnam―are extraordinarily durable, even in the face of economic crisis, large-scale policy failure, mass discontent, and intense external pressure. Few other modern autocracies have survived in the face of such extreme challenges. Drawing on comparative historical analysis, Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way argue that radical efforts to transform the social and geopolitical order trigger intense counterrevolutionary conflict, which initially threatens regime survival, but ultimately fosters the unity and state-building that supports authoritarianism.Although most revolutionary governments begin weak, they challenge powerful domestic and foreign actors, often bringing about civil or external wars. These counterrevolutionary wars pose a threat that can destroy new regimes, as in the cases of Afghanistan and Cambodia. Among regimes that survive, however, prolonged conflicts give rise to a cohesive ruling elite and a powerful and loyal coercive apparatus. This leads to the downfall of rival organizations and alternative centers of power, such as armies, churches, monarchies, and landowners, and helps to inoculate revolutionary regimes against elite defection, military coups, and mass protest―three principal sources of authoritarian breakdown.Looking at a range of revolutionary and nonrevolutionary regimes from across the globe, Revolution and Dictatorship shows why governments that emerge from violent conflict endure.

Este libro aborda las instituciones informales que los atomizados políticos peruanos han creado y que, a su vez, impiden que surja una política partidaria. Si ya aprendí a sobrevivir siendo tránsfuga, ¿por qué emprendería la costosa tarea de invertir en un partido? No cierran las cuentas. El colapso partidario, entonces, reproduce más colapso partidario. Ante la ausencia de incentivos para generar partidos, nuestros ambulantes de la política deben conseguir sustitutos partidarios. Algunos aterrizan en universidades-partidos, otros usufructúan un medio de comunicación, y hay puñados de operadores políticos que alquilan un servicio mínimo electoral.

A sequência de Como as democracias morrem é um chamado que põe em alerta todo o mundo democrático. Com prefácio inédito escrito pelos autores especialmente para o público brasileiro.Como salvar a democracia trata de um impasse cujas consequências serão determinantes para o resto do mundo. Steven Levitsky e Daniel Ziblatt argumentam que, mesmo com dificuldade, os Estados Unidos estão se movendo em direção a uma democracia multirracial, algo que poucas sociedades já fizeram. Mas a perspectiva de mudança provocou uma reação autoritária que ameaça os próprios fundamentos do sistema político norte-americano. E agora o país enfrenta uma ou se torna uma democracia multirracial ou não será uma democracia de fato.O problema, dizem os autores, é que a maioria das democracias modernas eliminou instituições obsoletas como câmaras superiores de elite, eleições indiretas e mandato vitalício para juízes; e os Estados Unidos ficaram perigosamente para trás. Pior, sua Constituição torna o país vulnerável a ataques internos, permitindo que minorias partidárias frustrem e até dominem as maiorias populares de forma consistente e tirânica.Com base em uma ampla gama de exemplos — da França dos anos 1930 à Tailândia dos dias de hoje —, os professores de Harvard discutem o papel de agentes e partidos políticos no ataque à democracia e defendem reformas, sugerindo ações para tornar as instituições mais sólidas."Reformar as instituições deveria estar na agenda política urgente. Isto não basta, no entanto. A solução – aprendida neste livro a partir de outras democracias além dos Estados Unidos – deveria ser tão radical quanto o veneno supremacista que sufoca a democracia fortalecer as maiorias democráticas." — Thiago Amparo

This volume explains why some contemporary Latin American labor-based parties adapted successfully to the challenges of neoliberalism and working class decline. It argues that loosely structured party organizations tend to be more flexible than the bureaucratic structures found in most labor-based parties. The argument is illustrated through an analysis of the Argentine (Peronist) Justicialista Party (PJ). The book shows how PJ's fluid internal structure allowed it to adapt and transform itself from a union-dominated populist party into a vehicle for carrying out radical market-oriented economic reforms.

Please Note That The Following Individual Books As Per Original ISBN and Cover Image Shall be Dispatched How Democracies Die By Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt & Nostradamus Complete Prophecies for the Future By Mario Reading 2 Books Collection How Democracies How does a democracy die? What can we do to save our own? What lessons does history teach us? In the 21st century democracy is threatened like never before. Drawing insightful lessons from across history - from Pinochet's murderous Chilean regime to Erdogan's quiet dismantling in Turkey - Levitsky and Ziblatt explain why democracies fail, how leaders like Trump subvert them today and what each of us can do to protect our democratic rights.Nostradamus Complete Prophecies for the 500 years ago, Nostradamus predicted some of the most shocking moments of modern time - the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the 2008 financial meltdown, the floods in New Orleans, the Iraq war, the attack on the World Trade Centre, and the devastating Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 which claimed the lives of over 300,000 people. And his predictions foretold the future for decades to come. Mario Reading s unique decryption of Nostradamus's index dating system has enabled him to present all Nostradamus's prophecies in an entirely new light. Offering more than 120 prophecies for events yet to occur, plus brand-new commentaries on those that have come to pass since first publication.

From the authors of the global bestseller How Democracies Die comes a chilling exploration of how modern democracies are being eroded—not by external forces, but from within. Tyranny of the Minority examines how political systems can be manipulated to allow extremist minorities to seize power, override the will of the majority, and reshape societies. Through historical analysis and contemporary examples, Levitsky and Ziblatt reveal the dangerous loopholes in democratic institutions and offer urgent solutions to safeguard democracy. A must-read for anyone concerned about the future of governance, justice, and freedom.