Is American Democracy Built to Last?

[Celerity]

Yascha Mounk’s new book questions deeply held beliefs about the stability of Western societies.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/29/us/politics/us-democracy.html



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You’re worried about American democracy falling apart. Tell us why.

I sometimes joke that I’m a democracy hipster: I started arguing that democracy was in danger in 2014 and 2015, before it was cool. I was seeing the rise of authoritarian populist candidates and parties in many countries around the world. If they were not in power yet, they were within arm’s reach of it.

The most dangerous thing about them is the anti-pluralism, the claim that they alone represent the people. That drives them to concentrate power in their own hands and refuse to accept electoral defeats.

So in that sense, there’s nothing especially surprising about the way that Trump conducted himself in office, or for that matter, how he has refused to accept his defeat as legitimate. For him, it’s a conceptual impossibility that the majority of his compatriots might actually have chosen President Biden.

When Trump first won election in 2016, I don’t think he recognized the extent to which various institutions reined in his power. If he’s re-elected in 2024, he would be much more determined to concentrate power in his own hands from Day 1. A second Trump presidency would be much more dangerous than the first one was.

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[TreasonousBastard]

1. Long before there were Western societies, Plato told us about the problems with democracy.

[Mister Ed]

2. What'll it be? "A republic, if you can keep it." - Ben Franklin n/t

[mitch96]

3. This statement after the Constitutional Convention of September 18, 1787 always rings in my head

When shit hits the fan in our government... A constitutional republic like ours has never lasted this long and I fear for it's existence...
m

[Jim__]

4. I can't read the Times article, so I had to look up the name of the book.

For others who may have the same problem, the book is: The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure.

Amazons description:

...

Some democracies are highly homogeneous. Others have long maintained a brutal racial or religious hierarchy, with some groups dominating and exploiting others. Never in history has a democracy succeeded in being both diverse and equal, treating members of many different ethnic or religious groups fairly. And yet achieving that goal is now central to the democratic project in countries around the world. It is, Yascha Mounk argues, the greatest experiment of our time.

Drawing on history, social psychology, and comparative politics, Mounk examines how diverse societies have long suffered from the ills of domination, fragmentation, or structured anarchy. So it is hardly surprising that most people are now deeply pessimistic that different groups might be able to integrate in harmony, celebrating their differences without essentializing them. But Mounk shows us that the past can offer crucial insights for how to do better in the future. There is real reason for hope.

It is up to us and the institutions we build whether different groups will come to see each other as enemies or friends, as strangers or compatriots. To make diverse democracies endure, and even thrive, we need to create a world in which our ascriptive identities come to matter less—not because we ignore the injustices that still characterize the United States and so many other countries around the world, but because we have succeeded in addressing them.

The Great Experiment is that rare book that offers both a profound understanding of an urgent problem and genuine hope for our human capacity to solve it. As Mounk contends, giving up on the prospects of building fair and thriving diverse democracies is simply not an option—and that is why we must strive to realize a more ambitious vision for the future of our societies.

I find it interesting that he seems to consider diversity one of the big problems. I do believe that is one of the biggest dividers in this country right now, and maybe one of our big problems historically.

[uponit7771]

5. K&R,

[H2O Man]

6. Recommended.

Yes, but it requires educated, aware people who do not take it for granted. Democracy involves constant struggle.

[Hugin]

7. And compromise...

Not everyone gets their cake and eating it too.

[Boomerproud]

8. Yes. Are we willing to put in the effort to bolster democracy?

Everyone needs to look in the mirror and ask that question.