Live Talks Los Angeles event:
Presented in association with
The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy
at the Japanese American National Museum
Daniel Ziblatt
discussing his book,
Tyranny of the Minority:
Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point
at the Japanese American National Museum
100 N Central Ave,
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(Paid Parking available in city lot next to the venue)
Face masks recommended
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TICKETS:
$48 General Admission ticket +signed book
$20 General Admission ticket
that airs on September 27 at 6pm PT/9pm ET.
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VIRTUAL EVENT TICKETS, September 27 (Click here)
TICKETS (US Orders Only):
$45 Virtual Admission + signed book (includes shipping to US addresses)
*Includes access to watch the event on video-on-demand for five days after it airs
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A call to reform our antiquated political institutions before it’s too late—from the New York Times bestselling authors of How Democracies Die
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Daniel Ziblatt is a professor of government at Harvard University and the co-author of the New York Times bestseller How Democracies Die, which won the Goldsmith Book Prize, was shortlisted for the Lionel Gelber Prize, and was named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post, Time, and Foreign Affairs.
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“Old democracies tend to last, and so do rich democracies, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt point out in this searing, unsettling, and essential new book, but American democracy, which is both old and rich, is dying. In Tyranny of the Minority, they explain why, and they explain, too, how to save it.”—Jill Lepore, author of These Truths
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?
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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.
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In this revelatory book, Levitsky and Ziblatt issue an urgent call to reform our politics. 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.
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Terrence McNally was the longtime host of Free Forum on KPFK. He now hosts a weekly interview show on the Progressive Voices Network on TuneIn and a monthly podcast for a science institute at Harvard. All his podcasts can be found at iTunes and TerrenceMcNally.net