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    The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It
    The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It
    The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It
    Audiobook8 hours

    The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It

    Written by Yascha Mounk

    Narrated by Timothy Andres Pabon

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    “We can no longer assume that liberal democracy is the wave of the future… This splendid book is an invaluable contribution to the debate about what ails democracy, and what can be done about it.” ―Michael J. Sandel, author of Justice

    “Everyone worried about the state of contemporary politics should read this book.” ―Anne-Marie Slaughter, President of the New America Foundation

    The world is in turmoil. From Russia, Turkey, and Egypt to the United States, authoritarian populists have seized power. As a result, democracy itself may now be at risk.

    Two core components of liberal democracy―individual rights and the popular will―are increasingly at war with each other. As the role of money in politics soared and important issues were taken out of public contestation, a system of “rights without democracy” took hold. Populists who rail against this say they want to return power to the people. But in practice they create something just as bad: a system of “democracy without rights.” The consequence, as Yascha Mounk shows in this brilliant and timely book, is that trust in politics is dwindling. Citizens are falling out of love with their political system. Democracy is wilting away. Drawing on vivid stories and original research, Mounk identifies three key drivers of voters’ discontent: stagnating living standards, fear of multiethnic democracy, and the rise of social media. To reverse the trend, politicians need to enact radical reforms that benefit the many, not the few.

    The People vs. Democracy is the first book to describe both how we got here and what we need to do now. For those unwilling to give up either individual rights or the concept of the popular will, Mounk argues that urgent action is needed, as this may be our last chance to save democracy.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateApr 24, 2018
    ISBN9781978603608
    Author

    Yascha Mounk

    Yascha Mounk is a Lecturer on Government at Harvard University and a Senior Fellow in the Political Reform Program at New America.

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    Reviews for The People vs. Democracy

    3.5/5

    53 ratings6 reviews

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    • 1/5
      Terribly biased book! Promoting one side opinion based on lies.

      3 people found this helpful

    • 1/5
      How did a second hand dealer in ideas gain status as expert on Democracy? Of course: PhD, Professional Bureaucrat, Ivy League Grad, closet socialist, and "a man of words." The gate keepers of the soso same old same old dead wrong idea that Democracy is the holy ghost of politics. The dude is a high priest of the State Idolatry. Democracy is mob rule; democracy keeps the administrative state working and the graft corruption debt and wealth transfer keeps stays alive and well. That there is some sort of "populist" movement shows that there are some Americans with half a brain. The more democratic the US has become the more individual Americans have lost their wealth and property rights. The elite that picked Mounk to proselytize for Big government indirectly through democracy peddling to reignite the True Believers. Those that have been taught to think Democracy is sacred and the devil is those who have figured out democracy is the problem. Mounk must get the true believers to smash what is left of the Republic; make mob rule cool again. Keep in mind that Mounk has no clue how to make a living in the private sector. He produces nothing but the same bad ideas that Romans and Plato said were bad ideas. To maintain the myth of democracy takes lots of fake audios, history books, establishment historians/intellectuals/bureaucrats/ taxpayer funded Universities. The mission is to flood the market with the holy ghost -democracy-and keep suppressed the fact we were a republic and we have individual rights that mob rule cannot take away from us... Dr. Mounk treats the boiling ignorant masses with wordotherapy (like chemotherapy for cancer) which is lots of bogus meaningless words and awesome sophistry and repetition and of course suppresses the idea that Americans have been kept ignorant of the disaster that is democracy.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 1/5
      Very clearly biased, the author seems to conveniently forget that the United States is not a “liberal Democracy” but is a “ Constitutional Republic” ironically he seems to condemn “populism” while simultaneously promoting a specific view that can easily be described as a specific “flavor” of populism..

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The People vs. Democracy is the first book to describe both how we got here and what we need to do now. For those unwilling to give up either individual rights or the concept of the popular will, Mounk argues that urgent action is needed, as this may be our last chance to save democracy.
    • 4/5
      Writing this review as a response to the only written one with the one star. It was an ok book, easy to get through, perfect for entry level need for understanding the intricate problems liberal democracies face today. Even though it is not a groundbreaking take on the state of the world today, it has objective observations and provides some of the working solutions. It is biased only in the way of author's preferance for liberal democracy to dictatorship and mostly based on data. So the one star review person is really saying more about himself than the book.
    • 4/5
      Liked the first half of the book a lot, where he defines populism and discusses its history and manifestations in different places and times. Also really thought his discussion of “liberal democracies” was good, especially the conflicts that arise when the majority of voters oppose protections for minorities.

      The latter half of the book, where he proposes strategies and fixes, seemed a lot weaker.