By: Cass R. Sunstein
Link: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/it-can-happen-here?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Many accounts of the Nazi period depict a barely imaginable
series of events, a nation gone mad. That makes it easy to take comfort in the
thought that it can’t happen again.
Liberal
democracy has enjoyed much better days. Vladimir Putin has entrenched
authoritarian rule and is firmly in charge of a resurgent Russia. In global
influence, China may have surpassed the United States, and Chinese president Xi
Jinping is now empowered to remain in office indefinitely. In light of recent
turns toward authoritarianism in Turkey, Poland, Hungary, and the Philippines,
there is widespread talk of a “democratic recession.” In the United States,
President Donald Trump may not be sufficiently committed to constitutional
principles of democratic government.
