Four Threats

The Recurring Crises of American Democracy

De: Suzanne Mettler, Robert C. Lieberman

Narrado por: Andrea Gallo

An urgent, historically-grounded take on the four major factors that undermine American democracy, and what we can do to address them.

While many Americans despair of the current state of U.S. politics, most assume that our system of government and democracy itself are invulnerable to decay. Yet when we examine the past, we find that the United States has undergone repeated crises of democracy, from the earliest days of the republic to the present.

In Four Threats, Suzanne Mettler and Robert C. Lieberman explore five moments in history when democracy in the U.S. was under siege: the 1790s, the Civil War, the Gilded Age, the Depression, and Watergate. These episodes risked profound—even fatal—damage to the American democratic experiment. From this history, four distinct characteristics of disruption emerge. Political polarization, racism and nativism, economic inequality, and excessive executive power—alone or in combination—have threatened the survival of the republic, but it has survived—so far. What is unique, and alarming, about the present moment in American politics is that all four conditions exist.

This convergence marks the contemporary era as a grave moment for democracy. But history provides a valuable repository from which we can draw lessons about how democracy was eventually strengthened—or weakened—in the past. By revisiting how earlier generations of Americans faced threats to the principles enshrined in the Constitution, we can see the promise and the peril that have led us to today and chart a path toward repairing our civic fabric and renewing democracy.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

"Four Threats helps us see that the principal forces challenging our democracy today--polarization, conflict over who is considered American, economic inequality, and presidential abuse of power—are not new. And, in turn, we gain powerful insights into our current predicament—and how we might overcome it. We recommend this book to all citizens concerned about the fate of American democracy." -- Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, bestselling authors of How Democracies Die

Accurate portrayal of looming crisis with a flaw

This book would be nearly perfect if the authors could have shone a brighter light on liberal ideas and policies that played a part in the negative polarization they accurately describe. The threats are real, and Trump and his supporters are the main avenue for the potential demise of our democracy, but the authors don't spend enough time outlining the liberal tendancies that fueled Trump's rise. In a two party system where the winner takes all, negative partisanship explains how unlikely people and unpopular ideas continue to get into power--because people are actually voting against the thing they dislike more. Academics who write these books must figure out how to look at their own tribe and see what's wrong there. Partisans are brilliant at pointing oit the flaws in the other side--Republicans in this case--but struggle to see how ideas on their side may have contributed to the success of their opponents.

A Must Read

Our American Democracy needs the support of All Americans. This is a must read for everyone who believes in Democracy and wants it to continue.

Very informative

This book is a great history lesson and shows us what's going around in our society and how we can change it. and we are in big trouble so I would highly advise everyone to read this book and take heed.

What could be more balanced

I absolutely agree with the author on the four pillars of democracy. I also absolutely agree with the premise that when more than two of these pillars are threatened, democracy itself may backslide. However, I do not agree with the author in that only one party has participated in denigrating each of the four pillars of the listed democracy. For me, that made this book a little bit hard to digest as it is not just one party who has participated in the downgrading of our great nation