Tyranny of the Minority

Tyranny of the Minority by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, © 2023, 368 pgs. 

On February 6, 1934, far-right leaning groups stormed the French National Assembly building. The tension in France had been building since the end of World War I, but with the Great Depression, political instability and general unrest, a dam finally broke. Fascist groups organized and stormed the facility, throwing rocks, setting buses on fire, breaking windows, firing guns, slashing the legs of police horses, crying "Hang the deputies!" Some were killed and hundreds were injured. 

Though France was able to beat back the rioters, there was an investigation that wasn't taken seriously by all of parliament. "Mainstream conservatives' sympathy for the anti-democratic extremists was a major factor in the attack." They downplayed and justified the rioters. As a result, French democracy was hobbled and their democracy would be dead within a few years. Sound familiar? 

In their previous book, How Democracies Die, Levitsky and Ziblatt, two Harvard professors of government, highlight how democracies backslide and how elected leaders subvert the constitution to enable more power for their party. Here, the authors take a different spin on tyranny, focusing on "counter-majoritarian" mechanisms and institutions that thwart progressive, majority-backed legislation and work to undermine democracy itself from within. 

Lots of illuminating information to be had here. The electoral college was originally conceived to undermine poorer classes of people deciding who would run the country--America is the only country that continues to use this system--every other major democratic country has removed it. Know who the most democratic country is? Not us by a long shot. America is very much like a ship; you can't turn it on a dime. It takes decades and generations and social movements to make the kinds of change a majority of us all agree on. But counter-majority institutions and the people elected who promote them threaten to derail our democracy into something we can't even imagine. There's kind of an eerie sense of history repeating itself in this book, but highly recommended for understanding where we are now and where we might end up by next year. 

The Public Option

The public option: how to expand freedom, increase opportunity and promote equality / Ganesh Sitaraman and Anne L. Alstott, 284 pgs.

A look at how we can improve options by expanding the public option.  Why do so many American's have no bank accounts? Why does the free market let people down in several arenas?  How can we solve the student debt crisis?  The childcare crisis?  The lack of broadband options in rural areas? The public option can step in and provide high quality options in all these areas. Don't quite get it?  Look at your public library for an example.  Public K-12 schools...so many other well functioning choices.

The fifth risk

The fifth risk / Michael Lewis, 221 pgs.

Nothing is more exciting to me than a new book by Michael Lewis, even one like this that makes it hard to sleep at night.  The one line description given in Novelist "What are the consequences if the people given control over our government have no idea how it works?" is pretty perfect.  The federal government is massive.  It does a ton of stuff and there aren't many who really understand it all but we have always had people who understand parts, especially the part they worked in.  These days, not so much.  First off, the Trump team didn't actually SHOW UP after the election.  When they did finally make it to some departments, they threw away the briefing books that were prepared for them and asked questions about who studied climate science.  Most department rosters are still not complete.  Despite being somewhat depressing, Lewis finishes with stories about the great work that DOES occur within the government.  He talks about the people who have willingly devoted their lives to public service and are proud of it.  I wish all the government haters out there would read this book.

Big Guns

Big guns / Steve Israel, 310 pgs.

Chicago is becoming such a shooting gallery, Mayor Michael Rodriguez starts a coalition of mayors to ban guns.  In retaliation, Otis Cogsworth, the CEO of the larges gun manufacturer in the US, decides to try to find a legislator who will sponsor a bill requiring ALL Americans to own a gun.  Likening it to Obamacare where all Americans were told to have health insurance, this is safety insurance.  Now how do we get this on the field in Washington?  Get your best lobbyist to carry the water.  Sunny McCarthy starts the process while avoiding visiting her home town where her mother is the mayor and a fuzzy headed liberal to boot.  Things get more interesting as the gun measure takes off and nobody knows how to stop it.  This is a hilarious piece of political satire that had me going from the start.  Steve Israel's sophomore effort is even better than his last book.  Thanks to Kara for this recommendation.