In their book聽How Democracies Die: What History Tells Us about Our Future聽(Books, 8 March), Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt offer some possibly useful critical analysis, but I am shocked by their apparent lack of a historical and intellectual handle on the forces behind those events leading to collapses of democracies 鈥 especially in the western hemisphere. In Chile, for example, democracy did not die as such 鈥 it was killed in an organised and well-financed, if not desperate, manner by a faction of the military, many of whom had close ties with the US.
In the book鈥檚 index, there is under 鈥淏razil鈥 no mention of US assistance in the 1964 military coup there. Also absent is the name of Oliver North, a former National Security aide who was at the heart of the Iran-Contra affair.
I would say that the rather consistent pressure from both major US political parties and their views on electoral practice has left much of the nation unmoved to vote, seeing that virtually any and all 鈥渢hird party鈥 voices are systematically silenced or eliminated. And that鈥檚 not even to mention electoral practices such as gerrymandering that have dulled and reduced democracy in this nation for a long time, here little noted.
For these and other reasons, I feel that Levitsky and Ziblatt really only touch on the questions involved in our acceptance of democracy鈥檚 demise in the US, and seem not even to notice the many major well-organised internal efforts to smother democracy here.
alambique46
Via timeshighereducation.com
Send to
Letters should be sent to:聽THE.Letters@timeshighereducation.com
Letters for publication in聽糖心Vlog聽should arrive by 9am Monday.
View terms and conditions.
Register to continue
Why register?
- Registration is free and only takes a moment
- Once registered, you can read 3 articles a month
- Sign up for our newsletter
Subscribe
Or subscribe for unlimited access to:
- Unlimited access to news, views, insights & reviews
- Digital editions
- Digital access to 罢贬贰鈥檚 university and college rankings analysis
Already registered or a current subscriber?
