Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point

 
　　紐約時報暢銷書《民主國家如何死亡》（How Democracies Die）作者——哈佛大學政治學教授史帝文‧李維茲基（Steven Levitsky）和丹尼爾‧齊布拉特（Daniel Ziblatt）再度攜手，在新書《Tyranny of the Minority》中闡述，美國的民主政治，何以正走向崩潰的危險邊緣，並提出具啟示性的建言。
 
　　兩位哈佛政治學教授指出：美國正站在危機四伏的十字路口，在2016到2021年間，它明顯變得不那麼民主。川普及其支持者公然利用民主的裂痕，宣稱遵守民主規則，實際上卻推動了威權行為，把國家一些最重要的政治治理機構，變成少數派統治者的支柱，將美國的民主，帶向分崩離析的邊緣。
 
　　本書提出具說服力、啟發性的論點，說明美國為何勢必得朝多種族民主繼續前進。儘管過程充滿挑戰，但站在充滿危機的十字路口，改變，刻不容緩。(文/博客來編譯)

　　A call to reform our antiquated political institutions before it’s too late—from the New York Times bestselling authors of How Democracies Die

　　America is undergoing a massive experiment: It is moving, in fits and starts, toward a multiracial democracy, something few societies have ever done. But the prospect of change has sparked an authoritarian backlash that threatens the very foundations of our political system. Why is democracy under assault here, and not in other wealthy, diversifying nations? And what can we do to save it?

　　With the clarity and brilliance that made their first book, How Democracies Die, a global bestseller, Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt offer a coherent framework for understanding these volatile times. They draw on a wealth of examples—from 1930s France to present-day Thailand—to explain why and how political parties turn against democracy. They then show how our Constitution makes us uniquely vulnerable to attacks from within: It is a pernicious enabler of minority rule, allowing partisan minorities to consistently thwart and even rule over popular majorities. Most modern democracies—from Germany and Sweden to Argentina and New Zealand—have eliminated outdated institutions like elite upper chambers, indirect elections, and lifetime tenure for judges. The United States lags dangerously behind.

　　In this revelatory book, Levitsky and Ziblatt issue an urgent call to perfect our national experiment. It’s a daunting task, but we have remade our country before—most notably, after the Civil War and during the Progressive Era. And now we are at a crossroads: America will either become a multiracial democracy or cease to be a democracy at all.