How Democracies Die

How Democracies Die

First paperback edition
Authors	Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt
Cover artist	Christopher Brand
Language	English
Subjects	Politics Political theory Comparative politics Political science
Publisher	Crown (publisher)
Publication date	16 January 2018 (2018-01-16)
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover, paperback, e-book, audio book)
Pages	320
ISBN	978-1-5247-6293-3
OCLC	1082520793
Dewey Decimal	321.8
LC Class	JC423 .L4855

How Democracies Die is a 2018 comparative politics book by Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt about democratic backsliding, and how elected leaders can gradually subvert the democratic process to increase their power. The book examines the political systems in countries such as Venezuela, Russia, Turkey, Thailand, Hungary and Poland, and also offers stark warnings about the first Donald Trump presidency which, in the authors' view, imperils U.S. democracy.

The book was a widely praised bestseller. In 2023, Levitsky and Ziblatt published a sequel of sorts, titled Tyranny of the Minority.^[1] It provides an update on the global prospects for democracy, with a focus on counter-majoritarian devices being deployed in the U.S. to prevent democratic rule by the majority.^[2]

How Democracies Die cites cases in multiple countries where a breakdown of "mutual toleration" occurred, along with a loss of respect for the political legitimacy of the opposition. Tolerance, as the authors define it, involves accepting the results of a free and fair election when the opposition has won, in contrast with lodging spurious complaints about the election mechanism or even advocating the overthrow of the electoral system. The authors stress the importance of respecting the opinions of people with different political viewpoints, rather than attacking the patriotism of the opposition, or warning that if they come to power they will destroy the country.^[3]

The authors claim that in a system with separation of powers, the various branches of government have actions available to them which can completely undermine the other branches. The authors caution against ramming through a political agenda or accumulating power by playing "constitutional hardball" with tactics like court-packing, stonewalling nominations, or abusing the power of the purse. Instead, the authors recommend "forbearance" and some degree of cooperation to keep government functioning in a balanced fashion.^[4] Among the other threats to democratic stability, they list economic inequality and segregation of the political parties by race, religion, and geography.

After applying their theory of how democracies die to Latin American and European countries (especially Venezuela and Russia), the authors devote several later chapters to the United States, Donald Trump, the Republican Party, and the 2016 presidential election. The book argues that up until 2016, the U.S. had resisted attempts to destabilize its democracy thanks to two norms: mutual toleration and forbearance, the latter word defined as the intentional restraint of one's power in order to respect the spirit of the law if not the letter of the law.^[5] The book concludes with three potential scenarios for a post-Trump U.S.

Levitsky and Ziblatt adopt an holistic approach in explaining the process by which democracies die, and in studying the long-term prospects of democratic systems. The book's key concerns are outlined in the introduction: the authors assert that in the early 21st century, democracies still die as in the previous century, but by different means than before, less "at the hands of men with guns", and more by elected leaders.^[6] As a methodology, the authors rely mainly on the "comparative method". They seek to forecast the future based on historical comparisons: finding similar dynamics and cases where history "rhymes", presenting models of "gatekeeping", and so on.

They harshly criticize Trump's first presidency, characterizing him as an "autocrat-in-the-making", and comparing him with other autocrats in failed nation-states. The book assesses the risk of his presidency and tries to identify a pattern in his autocratic tendencies.

Levitsky and Ziblatt argue that the dangers of a Trump presidency are real, and advocate for the protection of U.S. democracy with the following advice:

We must be humble and bold. We must learn from other countries to see the warning signs. We must be aware of the fateful missteps that have wrecked other democracies. We must see how citizens have risen to meet the great democratic crises of the past, overcoming their own deep-seated divisions to avert breakdown.^[7]

A proposed solution to the crisis is that "[w]e must not only restore democratic norms but extend them through the whole of increasingly diverse societies. This is a daunting challenge ... this is the challenge we face, previous generations ... made extraordinary sacrifice ... we must prevent it [U.S. democracy] from dying from within ... ."^[8]

The authors offer recommendations for Republicans, who "must build a more diverse electoral constituency and they must find ways to win elections without appealing to white nationalism, the sugar high of populism, nativism, and demagoguery",^[9] and who must "realize that the president could inflict real damage on our institutions in the long term."^[10] Regarding Democrats, they write: "Although the Democratic party has not been the principal driver of America's deepening polarization, it could play a role in reducing it."^[11] They say that "Democrats could consider more comprehensive labor market policies ... it is imperative that Democrats address the issue of inequality."^[12]

In a 2018 interview, Levitsky summarized the book's two objectives as defeating Trump in 2020, and shoring up U.S. democracy.^[13] After the start of the second Trump presidency, Levitsky commented that the U.S. had already slid into a form of competitive authoritarianism.^[14][15]

The Economist stated that How Democracies Die was arguably "the most important book of the Trump era".^[16] The New York Times termed it an essential guide to what can happen in the U.S.^[17] John Ikenberry in Foreign Affairs characterized the book as a powerful wake-up call,^[18] and The Washington Post said it is a sober look at the current state of political affairs,^[19] In a scholarly review, political theorist Rosolino A. Candela praised the book and asserted that academics will find much in it "to learn, unpack, and develop".^[20]

How Democracies Die made The New York Times bestseller list,^[21] and was helped by favorable publicity from prominent Democrats. Joe Biden read the book in 2018, sometimes carrying it with him that year to share passages.^[22][23] Barack Obama included it on his "Favorite Books of 2018" list.^[24] The book was awarded with the German NDR Kultur Sachbuchpreis 2018.^[25]

In an otherwise laudatory review, Jason Willick in The Wall Street Journal faulted Levitsky and Ziblatt for demonizing Republican politicians such as Ted Cruz and, in so doing, "offer an unintentionally clarifying lesson in how democratic politics unravels".^[26] David Runciman in The Guardian called the book provocative, but argued that it puts too much emphasis on lessons from history, while underestimating other factors that weaken democracies like inequality, and the influence of social media: "I say this as a historian: if we want to know how our democracies might die, we have to stop looking to our yesterdays".^[27] While praising How Democracies Die as the "most thought-provoking book comparing democratic crises in different nations", Columbia University professor Adam Tooze faulted the authors for downplaying the use of force, both in destroying democracies and in reviving them:

For all their facility as analysts of political procedure and form, Levitsky and Ziblatt are strikingly naive when it comes to power. The overthrow of Chilean democracy in 1973 was not merely a deterioration into extreme partisanship. It was a violent clash over fundamental social and economic reforms during the cold war. Among the forces that enabled the destruction of Chilean democracy were the security and foreign policy apparatuses of the United States. Likewise in Germany, as Levitsky and Ziblatt admit, it took the absolute defeat of Hitler's regime in 1945 to set the conditions for the reconstruction of German conservatism.... For the GOP to transform itself, will America need to experience a catastrophe similar to that of Germany in World War II? Levitsky and Ziblatt pose the question but never fully explore its implications.^[28]

• Democratic backsliding in the United States

• Berman, S. (2018). A Discussion of Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt’s How Democracies Die. Perspectives on Politics, 16(4), 1092-1094. doi:10.1017/S1537592718002852
• Bunce, V. (2018). A Discussion of Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt's How Democracies Die. Perspectives on Politics, 16(4), 1103–1104. doi:10.1017/S1537592718002839
• Connolly, W. (2018). A Discussion of Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt's How Democracies Die. Perspectives on Politics, 16(4), 1095–1096. doi:10.1017/S1537592718002888
• Cramer, K. (2018). A Discussion of Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt's How Democracies Die. Perspectives on Politics, 16(4), 1097–1098. doi:10.1017/S1537592718002876
• Ikenberry, G. John (2018). "How Democracies Die". Foreign Affairs. No. March/April.
• Levitsky, Steven; Ziblatt, Daniel (2018). How Democracies Die. New York: Crown. ISBN 978-1524762933.
• Parker, C. (2018). A Discussion of Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt's How Democracies Die. Perspectives on Politics, 16(4), 1099–1100. doi:10.1017/S153759271800289X
• Pérez-Liñán, A. (2018). A Discussion of Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt's How Democracies Die. Perspectives on Politics, 16(4), 1101–1102. doi:10.1017/S1537592718003043

• How Democracies Die' Authors Say Trump Is A Symptom Of 'Deeper Problems NPR, 22 January 2018
• Penguin Publisher Website