An urgent, historically-grounded take on the four major factors that undermine American democracy, and what can be done to address them.
SUZANNE METTLER is the John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions in the Government Department at Cornell University. She is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017. ROBERT C. LIEBERMAN is Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins. He has received fellowships from the Russell Sage Foundation and the American Philosophical Society.
"And yet, for the gravity of its subject matter, Four Threats is a
lively read about the cracks in the system. What's more, it offers
some good ideas for how we might go about fixing them." -- Jelani
Cobb, The New Yorker "Truly splendid, even brilliant." -- Sanford
Levinson, University of Texas School of Law "Mettler and Lieberman
marshal a wealth of evidence to make their case, and incisively
sketch the factors at play in each historical period. Bracing,
well-informed history." -- Publishers Weekly "In an analysis deeply
rooted in American history and animated by an unshakable commitment
to democratic values, Mettler and Lieberman issue a cry of
political alarm that privileges illumination over hysteria and
reminds us that this is not the first time our nation has struggled
with demons. Their eloquent call for political and social renewal
allies realism with hope, and it could not be more timely." -- E.
J. Dionne, Jr., author of Code Red and co-author of One Nation
After Trump "A rich and textured account of American history
through which to understand where we are today. When you finish
this book, you'll be neither complacent nor despairing. But you'll
be more ready to act intelligently to deal with the challenges we
face." --William Kristol, director, Defending Democracy
Together
"This is a masterful account of the long arc of American democracy.
Long simmering historical threats have today converged leaving our
current predicament deeply perilous. 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 "Four Threats is a sobering and instructive read. It is also a
call to action to all those who would put country over party,
democracy over ideology. Mettler and Lieberman rely on both history
-- vividly told -- and political science to demonstrate precisely
what is at stake for the future of the American experiment."
--Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America "This is an important work
of scholarship that should be read by anyone concerned with
America's future. Deeply grounded in five pivotal moments in
history, the authors make a compelling case that we are now living
through the most consequential of these tests of American
democracy. Forces that have existed throughout American history,
and have waxed and waned over the years, have all come together to
present the United States with an existential challenge. How we
come out of this will shape the country's character for decades to
come." --Fareed Zakaria, author of The Post-American World
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