For generations, influential thinkers--often citing the tragic polarization that took place during Germany's Great Depression--have suspected that people's loyalty to democratic institutions erodes under pressure and that citizens gravitate toward antidemocratic extremes in times of political and economic crisis. But do people really defect from democracy when times get tough? Do ordinary people play a leading role in the collapse of popular government?
Based on extensive research, this book overturns the common wisdom. It shows that the German experience was exceptional, that people's affinity for particular political positions are surprisingly stable, and that what is often labeled polarization is the result not of vote switching but of such factors as expansion of the franchise, elite defections, and the mobilization of new voters. Democratic collapses are caused less by changes in popular preferences than by the actions of political elites who polarize themselves and mistake the actions of a few for the preferences of the many. These conclusions are drawn from the study of twenty cases, including every democracy that collapsed in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in interwar Europe, every South American democracy that fell to the Right after the Cuban Revolution, and three democracies that avoided breakdown despite serious economic and political challenges.
Unique in its historical and regional scope, this book offers unsettling but important lessons about civil society and regime change--and about the paths to democratic consolidation today.
發表於2024-11-09
Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載
圖書標籤: 政治學 比較政治 英文原版 politics 民主 政治 思想史
大四最後幾個月時讀的瞭
評分大四最後幾個月時讀的瞭
評分大四最後幾個月時讀的瞭
評分基本觀點就是人們對於民主的態度基本是穩定的,不會突然擁抱民主,也不會突然拋棄民主。但是如果政治精英分裂瞭,並且其中一部分人動員新的力量,而這些新的力量並不買民主的帳,那麼民主最後往往就崩潰瞭。文筆甚好。但Small N的問題,始終是這類跨國比較研究的軟肋。
評分基本觀點就是人們對於民主的態度基本是穩定的,不會突然擁抱民主,也不會突然拋棄民主。但是如果政治精英分裂瞭,並且其中一部分人動員新的力量,而這些新的力量並不買民主的帳,那麼民主最後往往就崩潰瞭。文筆甚好。但Small N的問題,始終是這類跨國比較研究的軟肋。
Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載