Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times (eBook)

The Citizenry and the Breakdown of Democracy

Nancy G. Bermeo (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2020
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-0-691-21413-9 (ISBN)

Infos

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.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 23.6.2020
• Zusatzinfo: 17 line illus. 50 tables.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Europäische / Internationale Politik
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Systeme
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Empirische Sozialforschung
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft ► Volkswirtschaftslehre
• Schlagworte: abstention • activism • Allende, Salvador • Altamirano, Carlos • assassination • authoritarianism • Balbín, Ricardo • Betancourt, Rómulo • bolsheviks • Bordaberry, Juan • Bourgeoisie • Cambridge University Press • Cámpora, Héctor • Capitalism • Centre-left politics • Centre-right politics • centrism • CGT (Argentina) • chileans • Civil Society • class conflict • Cleavage (politics) • Coalition Government • Collier, David • Collier, Ruth • communism • Communist Party • communist state • coup d'état • Criticism • Criticism of democracy • czechoslovakia • defection • Democracy • Democratic Center (Colombia) • Democratization • Diamond, Larry • Dictatorship • Di Tella, Torcuato • economic problem • Election • Electoral alliance • Elite • emigration, from Uruguay • Extremism • far-left politics • far-right politics • Franz von Papen • Frei government (Chile) • González, Luis • Goulart, João • Government • Guillermo O'Donnell • heroism • hostility • Hyperinflation • Identity politics • Ideology • Institution • Insurgency • Italy, interwar • James, Daniel • Kasekamp, Andres • kindness • Kubitschek, Juscelino • Labour movement • Latin America • Left–right politics • left-wing politics • Legislature • Legitimacy (political) • Liberalization • Linz, Juan • López Rega • Mainwaring, Scott • Major party • Marxism • Mass Mobilization • Metaxas, General • Militant (Trotskyist group) • Military Dictatorship • military elite • Monopoly on Violence • Motion of no confidence • Nazi Party • Nazi Party (Germany) • Pacheco Areco, Jorge • Party leader • Party System • party systems • Peronism • Perón, Juan • Political culture • Political Party • Political Science • political spectrum • political structure • Political System • Political violence • Politician • Politics • Polity • Populism • Public Space • Radicalism (historical) • Radicalization • Regime • regime change • Regionalism (politics) • Representative Democracy • Resignation • Right-wing dictatorship • right-wing politics • right-wing populism • Sartori, Giovanni • Scully, Timothy • South America • Subversion • Suffrage • terrorism • Tomic, Radomiro • Trade Union • Tupamaros • two-party system • Unemployment • Universal Suffrage • Voting • war • Weimar Republic • What Happened • Working Class
• ISBN-10: 0-691-21413-1 / 0691214131
• ISBN-13: 978-0-691-21413-9 / 9780691214139