I never knew there were so many ways to subvert democracy. ‘Tyranny of the Minority’, the new book by Harvard professors of Government Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt is a detailed and sobering account of the many ways that a democratic nation, a nation that at least tries to apply the rule of law fairly and equally to all its people can be derailed and even destroyed by an authoritarian minority. Although the main thrust of the book is the current state of our American democracy the authors use examples from nations around the world and times past to illustrate their arguments.
Democracy is a risky thing for a politician, losing an election can mean no job, an uncertain future and worst of all no power. In a democracy however a politician has to be willing to accept the choice of the people. If a politician losses they must congratulate the winner and plan for the next election, that’s the only way to learn from their mistakes. It’s no wonder therefore that many politicians try to seize power against the will of the majority, not only by violent means but by cheating as well.
Professors Levitsky and Ziblatt begin by looking at examples of coup d’etat over the last hundred years or so to discover both the rules that a loyal supporter of democracy must follow as well as the techniques that authoritarians use to sabotage a working democracy. As the authors see it a politician who values democracy and wants to see it thrive must accept three rules:
1. They must accept their losses. This is primary because without one side accepting defeat, even if they feel irregularities have cost them, then the peaceful transfer of power, which is the greatest benefit of a democratic system of government, will soon descend into violence. An example of this was when Al Gore accepted his defeat in 2000 even though the final vote counting in Florida was not yet completed. He accepted his loss for the sake of America’s democracy and the peaceful transfer of power.
2. Every politician loyal to democracy must immediately sever all ties to any other politician who even attempts to overturn the results of an election, whether by violence or by cheating. Toleration of authoritarian politicians, even if they are popular with your party’s base, only empowers them leading to further attacks on democracy. Recent examples of this form of toleration are the many Republicans who remain silent about the attacks on our democracy by Donald Trump.
3. Politicians of all parties must be willing to work across party lines in defense of democracy, even at the risk of their own politician ambitions. Examples of this are the way that the conservative politicians Liz Chaney and Adam Kinzinger worked with liberal Democrats to investigate the January 6th attack on the Capitol that was instigated by Trump, a choice that cost them both their seats in the US House.
At the same time ‘Tyranny of the Minority’ also details the playbook of those politicians to seek to cheat, who try to obtain some slight advantage over their opponents. Of course in the end this cheating continues until democracy is gone and a dictatorship has been established. Some of the techniques used by extremists include:
1. Exploiting gaps in the law. As an example, over the more than 200-year history of the American Presidency many holders of that office have had to make many difficult decisions, decisions that were later often criticized by both their opponents and historians. In all of those years however no President has ever claimed immunity from legal prosecution, no President has ever had to, ever wanted to. Until Trump, who is currently arguing that a President must have immunity in order to do their jobs. Of course Trump’s real desire is to escape the consequences of his actions in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
2. Excessive or Undue use of the Law. An example of this would be the use by the President of his power to pardon in order to keep co-conspirators from giving evidence against him. During Watergate President Nixon never pardoned any of those who were involved in the burglary or cover-up. Trump however has promised to pardon all of those who have been convicted of crimes committed during the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
3. Selective enforcement of the law, especially voting laws. This one is insidious. During the Jim Crow era in the Southern US laws requiring voters to pay a Poll Tax or pass an Intelligence Test were strictly enforced against black voters while white voters were simply allowed to vote without any of those requirements being enforced against them.
4. Lawfare. This is a new term created for those laws that are intended for no other purpose than to give one party in an election an advantage against the other. Examples of this include the Poll Taxes and Intelligence Tests of the past that are now being replaced by Voter I.D. laws. The process of Gerrymandering, the creation of political districts in such a way as to put all of your opponents supporters into a few districts while your supporters are spread out over a large number of districts is a prime example of Lawfare.
Simply reviewing these anti-democratic practices brings to mind much of the politics of the last 40 years here in the US. It’s at this point that ‘Tyranny of the Minority’ goes into the process of how the Republican Party, a party than once prided itself on its adherence to democratic principles has become distorted into the party of Trump. To be certain Trump did not start the process, it really began in earnest in 1992 when the Democrat Bill Clinton won the Presidency. Rather than try to learn a lesson and reform their party in order to win in a later election the Republicans decide to start cheating, to “win at all costs” as they did in Florida in 2000. Then, when Barack Obama, the first black president was elected the Republicans simply went crazy, a madness from which they have still to recover.
Because of this obstinacy the Republican Party has slowly but surely become a minority party. In the last eight Presidential elections the Republican candidate has won the popular vote only once, but thanks to the antiquated Electoral College, which as recently as 1970 the Republicans wanted to get rid of, they have won the Presidency three times. Republicans have become welded to their low taxes on the rich while distracting people with culture wars policies. They know that they cannot achieve a majority with those principles so they can only cheat, and by cheating subvert and eventually destroy democracy.
‘Tyranny of the Minority’ is a very sobering book but at the same time that it details to dangers to our democracy it also offers the hope of those people, those politicians who will work for, and when necessary fight for democracy. If you support democracy I can only hope that you will take the time to read ‘Tyranny of the Minority’.