Dissatisfaction with Democracy David Montgomery

Democracy in Crisis Reading List

The following reading list was compiled by Dr. Benjamin Nienass, Political Science and Law, Montclair State University.

The materials below are meant to be useful for debate and critique. Inclusion does not necessarily mean endorsement of an author’s analysis or opinion.

In Fall 2020, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Working Group on Equity and Inclusion invited faculty to give one week of the semester to discuss “Black Lives Matter.” The group also provided an immensely productive syllabus with suggestions for readings and assignments.

In the wake of the 2020 presidential election and in the context of a global crisis of democracy, the Dean’s Office has initiated a similar syllabus project on the topic of the current state of (US) democracy for faculty to use during the upcoming semester and beyond.

This is an early version, meant to arrive on time for those who wish to allocate part of their course to the topic in Spring 2021. An extended syllabus (with suggestions for assignments and a more expansive list of materials) will be available in June 2021. The goal is to speak to a wide range of disciplines.

  • The materials are grouped according to themes. Interested faculty organizing a “one-week syllabus” devoted to the topic may consider some of the following learning objectives.
    • To demonstrate that “democracy” is a contested concept and to foster an understanding of different justifications of democracy.
    • To clarify what precisely the current crisis of democracy entails and to understand competing claims about its causes.
    • To understand how the US fits into larger global developments, but also how it faces particular challenges based on its own specific institutions and historical legacies.

I. Democracy: A Contested Concept

  • Interview with Astra Taylor, director of the documentary “What is Democracy?” on The Dig podcast.
  • John Gerring and Michael Coppedge, “Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy,” Perspectives on Politics 9/02 (2011): 247 – 267. Link to the article.
  • Amartya Sen, “Democracy as a Universal Value,” Journal of Democracy 10.3 (1999): 3-17. Link to the article. 
  • Dana Goldstein, “Is America a Democracy? A Social Studies Battle Turns on the Nation’s Values,” The New York Times, April 7, 2019. Link to the article. 
  • George Thomas, “‘America Is a Republic, Not a Democracy’ is a dangerous – and wrong – argument,” The Atlantic, November 2, 2020. Link to the article.
  • Further Reading:
    • David Held, 2006. Models of Democracy. Polity Press.
    • John Dunn, 2006. Democracy: A History. Atlantic Monthly Press.

II. Democracy in Crisis

  • Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, “This is How Democracies Die,” The Guardian, January 21, 2018. Link to the article. 
  • Charles Edel, “Democracy is Fighting for its Life,” Foreign Policy, September 10, 2019. Link to the article. 
  • Nick Robinson, “Authoritarian Democracy: A Playbook,” Dissent, November 14, 2016. Link to the article.
  • Mark Mazower. “Ideas that Fed the Beast of Fascism Flourish Today,” Financial Times. November 6, 2016. Link to the article. 
  • Morten Hoi Jensen, “Waiting for Fascism,” The Point Magazine, May 22, 2020. Link to the article. 
  • Jeffrey C. Isaac, “Is there illiberal Democracy?,” Eurozine, August 9, 2017. Link to the article. 
  • Martijn Konings, “Neoliberalism against Democracy?,” Los Angeles Review of Books, September 22, 2019. Link to the article. 
  • Jan-Werner Müller. “Trump, Erdoǧan, Farage: The Attractions of Populism for Politicians, the Dangers for Democracy,” The Guardian. September 2, 2016. Link to the article. 
  • James Miller, “Could Populism Actually Be Good for Democracy?,” Public Seminar, February 25, 2019. Link to the article. 
  • Further Reading:
    • David Runciman. 2018. How Democracy Ends. New York: Basic Books.
    • Adam Przeworski. 2019. Crises of Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press.
    • Tom Ginsburg and Aziz Z. Huq. 2020. How To Save a Constitutional Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
    • Timothy Snyder, 2019. The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America. New York: Tim Duggan Books.
    • Anne Applebaum. 2020. Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism. New York: Doubleday.

III. U.S. Democracy in Crisis

  • Suzanne Mettler and Robert C. Liebermann, “Four deadly threats to American democracy are raging all at once,” Los Angeles Times, November 17, 2019. Link to the article.
  • Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, “The Crisis of American Democracy,” American Educator, Fall 2020. Link to the article. 
  • Adam Gopnik, “What we get wrong about America’s Crisis of Democracy,” The New Yorker, December 27, 2020. Link to the article. 
  • Further Reading:
    • Writers of the Atlantic, 2020. The American Crisis: What Went Wrong. How We Recover. New York: Simon & Schuster. See Excerpts.

A. Polarization in the United States

  • Interview with Bill Bishop, author of “The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart,” on WNYC
  • Interview with Ezra Klein, author of ” “Why We’re Polarized” on The Economist Radio
  • Carlo. I. Accetti, “The Quiet and Dangerous Way U.S. Politics Is Becoming Europeanized,” Foreign Policy, December 29, 2020. Link to the article.
  • Yasha Mounk. “The Rise of McPolitics,” The New Yorker, July 2, 2018. Link to the article. 
  • Further Reading:
    • Ezra Klein, 2020. Why We’re Polarized. New York: Simon & Schuster.
    • Morris P. Fiorina, 2017. Unstable Majorities: Polarization, Party Sorting, and Political Stalemate. Hoover Institution Press.
    • Darrel M. West, 2019. Divided Politics, Divided Nation: Hyperconflict in the Trump Era. Brookings Institution Press.

B. Crises of Representation

  • Interview with Gilda R. Daniels, author of “Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America” on All of It
  • Interview with David Daley, author of “The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to Steal America’s Democracy” on Fresh Air.
  • Yasha Mounk, “America is Not a Democracy,” The Atlantic, March 2018 Issue. Link to the article.
  • Michael Lind, “Is There Too Much Democracy in America or Too Little?,” New York Times, May 14, 2016. Link to the article. 
  • Further Reading:
    • Carol Anderson, 2019. One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy. Bloomsbury Publishing.
    • Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page, 2014. “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens,” Perspectives on Politics, 12, 3: 564 – 581. Link to the article. 

C. The 2020 Election and its Aftermath

  • Tim Alberta, “20 American that Explain the 2020 Election,” Politico, December 13, 2020. Link to the article.
  • The New York Times, “Teaching Resources to Help Students Make Sense of the Rampage at the Capitol,” January 7, 2021. Link to the article.
  • Jonathan M. Katz, “It Happened Here,” Foreign Policy, January 9, 2021. Link to the article.
  • “Short Takes by UCLA Historians: Are we in a Fascist Age?,” UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy. Link to the article.
  • Amanda Shendruk and Anne Quito. “Decoding the Flags and Banners Seen at the Capitol Hill Insurrection.” Quartz, January 9, 2021. Link to the article. 
  • Evans, Richard J. “Why Trump Isn’t a Fascist.” New Statesman, January 13, 2021. Link to the article. 

IV. Democracy during/after Covid-19

  • Celia Belin and Giovanna De Maio, “Democracy after Coronavirus: Five Challenges for the 2020s,” Brookings Institute, August 2020. Link to the article.
  • Toni Massaro, Justin Pidot, and Marvin Slepian, 2020. “Constitutional Norms for Pandemic Policy,” Arizona Legal Studies, Discussion Paper 20-29. Link to the article. 
  • Nicolas Pirsoul and Nicholas Ross Smith, “Technocracy Will Not Save Us, but More Democracy Might,” Global Policy, June 18, 2020. Link to the article. 

V. Democracy and Truth

  • “Does Democracy Need Truth?” A Conversation with the Historian Sophia Rosenfeld, The New Yorker, January 31, 2019. Link to the article. 
  • Hannah Arendt, 1967. “Truth and Politics”. Originally published in The New Yorker, February 25, 1967, and reprinted with minor changes in Between Past and Future. Link to the article. 
  • Arthur Goldhammer, 2017. “Can Truth Survive Trump?,” Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, No. 43. Link to the article.
  • Further Reading:
    • Sophia Rosenfeld. 2019. Democracy and Truth. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
    • Jeremy Elkins and Andrew Norris (Eds.) 2012. Truth and Democracy. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
    • Lee McIntyre. 2018. Post-Truth. Cambridge: MIT Press.

VI. Democracy and Participation

  • Interview with Hélène Landemore, author of “Open Democracy” on the podcast Democracy Paradox.
  • Interview with Sarah Jaffe, author of “Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt” on the podcast New Books in Journalism.
  • Joel Westheimer and Joseph Kahne. 2004. “Educating the ‘Good’ Citizen: Political Choices and Pedagogical Goals,” Political Science & Politics, 37, 2: 241-247. Link to the article. 
  • Hollie Russon Gilman, “The Moment for Participatory Democracy,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, April 19, 2017. Link to the article. 
  • Further reading:
    • Carol Pateman, 1970. Participation and Democratic Theory. Cambridge University Press.
    • Theda Skocpol, 2004. Diminished Democracy: From Membership to Management in American Civic Life. University of Oklahoma Press.
    • Sarah Jaffe, 2016. Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt. Bold Type Books.
    • Edward Schneier, 2019. Putting the People Back in Politics: The Revival of American Democracy. Author House.
    • Hélène Landemore. 2020. Open Democracy. Princeton University Press.

Updated 7.24.21