grape’s Reviews > How Democracies Die: What History Reveals About Our Future > Status Update

Constitutions protect democracy but there are not enough to ensure them for lifetime.
Their openness for interpretation makes them dangerous.

Two fundamental norms are desperately needed for democracy:
Mutual toleration (agree to disagree) & institutional forbearance (patient self-control)

„Whereas old-school dictators often jailed, exiled, or even killed their rivals, contemporary autocrats tend to hide their repression behind a veneer of legality.“
„One of the great ironies of how democracies die is that the very defense of democracy is often used as a pretext for its subversion.“

Since the end of the Cold War, most democratic breakdowns have been caused not by generals and soldiers but by elected governments themselves.
Political party’s are democracy’s gatekeepers.
Successful gatekeepers requires that mainstream’s party come together to isolate and defeat extremist forces (= “distancing“).
Litmus test for identifying antidemocratic politicians.

How can extremists & demagogues get real political power?
Before reformation:
Party is responsible for keeping them out.
It was generally not possible for an outsider to achieve power (due to constitutional conditions).
After reformation:
Party is still responsible.
However there are still barriers for outsiders such as the “invisible primary“ and so on!