Tyranny of the Minority by Daniel Ziblatt & Steven Levitsky [Hardcover]

THE MUCH-ANTICIPATED FOLLOW-UP TO INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER HOW DEMOCRACIES DIE – essential reading ahead of the 2024 US election

‘Just like their previous work, this book is concise, readable, and convincing’ Anne Applebaum, author of Twilight of Democracy

How has democracy become so threatened – and what can we do to save it?

With the clarity and brilliance that made their first book, How Democracies Die, a global bestseller, leading Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt offer a coherent new framework for understanding our dangerous times. They draw on many examples - from the Capitol riots to Edwardian Britain, from 1930s France to present-day Thailand - to explain why political parties turn against democracy and how to predict when this will happen.

In this razor-sharp analysis, Levitsky and Ziblatt offer an urgent warning about right-wing efforts to undermine the very foundations of the American political system. Few societies have ever achieved multiracial democracy, but even the prospect of this change can spark an authoritarian backlash whose dangerous effects will resonate long into the future. Donald Trump’s astonishing lead in the run-up to the Republican nomination, even after his indictment and imprisonment on charges of election interference, is evidence of that.

With its attention on factors from election losses to demographic change and voting rights, its urgent call for a reform of our politics to balance the need for majority rule with the need for minority protections, and a citizens’ movement to put enough pressure on lawmakers to act before it’s too late, Tyranny of the Minority is a must-read for everyone keen to see more vibrant democracy – and to understand where future threats may come from.

‘Provocative and readable’ David Runciman on How Democracies Die

'A useful primer on the importance of norms, institutional restraints and civic participation in maintaining a democracy' Barack Obama on How Democracies Die