The best books about the contested history of democracy

List by Tracy Campbell

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been interested in understanding the realities of American social and political life throughout my career as a historian. I have written about the aftermath of populism, a biography of a New Dealer who went to prison for stuffing ballot boxes, the hidden history behind the Gateway Arch, and the year after Pearl Harbor. More than ever, I find that candid assessments of who we have been are necessary to understand where we are today.

The books I picked & why

American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis

By Adam Hochschild ,

Why I love this book

I found Hochschild’s narrative of the aftermath of World War I in America to be especially timely and provocative. Hochschild shows that while we remember the early 1920s as one of triumph and the beginning of the “Jazz Age,” in many areas, democracy was in short supply, and the nation was on the brink of a terrifying future.

At times, this book reads like a dystopian novel, but it is all too real.

American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis

By Adam Hochschild ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked American Midnight as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

National Bestseller • One of the year's most acclaimed works of nonfiction • A Best Book of 2022: New York Times, Washington Post, New Yorker, Chicago Tribune, Kirkus

From legendary historian Adam Hochschild, a "masterly" (New York Times) reassessment of the overlooked but startlingly resonant period between World War I and the Roaring Twenties, when the foundations of American democracy were threatened by war, pandemic, and violence fueled by battles over race, immigration, and the rights of labor

The nation was on the brink. Mobs burned Black churches to the ground. Courts threw thousands of people into prison for opinions…

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The Populist Moment: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America

By Lawrence Goodwyn ,

Why I love this book

Although nearly fifty years old, Goodwyn’s book (based on his magisterial Democratic Promise) remains the standard work for understanding how democratic movements originate and develop.

Goodwyn changed the way we think of “populism” and shows that democratic forms can be crushed even at their height. I often use Goodwyn’s concept of a “movement culture” when considering modern politics and the fundamental difference between movements and campaigns.

The Populist Moment: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America

By Lawrence Goodwyn ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Populist Moment as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This condensed version of Lawrence Goodwyn's Democratic Promise, the highly-acclaimed study on American Populism which the Civil Liberties Review called "a brilliant, comprehensive study," offers new political language designed to provide a fresh means of assessing both democracy and authoritarianism today.

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Four Threats

By Robert C. Lieberman , Suzanne Mettler ,

Why I love this book

Mettler and Lieberman place our current challenges within the broader context of other democratic crises in American history.

Readers will find it helpful to understand that democracy has been a contested part of our past, from the early days of the Republic to Watergate. Mettler and Lieberman remind us that protecting and enhancing democracy is an ongoing task.

Four Threats

By Robert C. Lieberman , Suzanne Mettler ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Four Threats as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

While many Americans despair of the current state of U.S. politics, most assume that our system of government and democracy itself are invulnerable to decay. Yet when we examine the past, we find that the United States has undergone repeated crises of democracy, from the earliest days of the republic to the present.

In Four Threats, Suzanne Mettler and Robert C. Lieberman explore five moments in history when democracy in the U.S. was under siege: the 1790s, the Civil War, the Gilded Age, the Depression, and Watergate. These episodes risked profound - even fatal - damage to the American democratic…

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Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government

By Christopher H. Achen , Larry M. Bartels ,

Why I love this book

The subtitle says it all. While many of us may suspect that American elections are not quite what “Schoolhouse Rock” told us years ago, Achen and Bartels explain it in a clear-eyed, candid fashion.

If you want to understand 2024 (and likely more elections to come), this book is fundamental.

Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government

By Christopher H. Achen , Larry M. Bartels ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Democracy for Realists as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Democracy for Realists assails the romantic folk-theory at the heart of contemporary thinking about democratic politics and government, and offers a provocative alternative view grounded in the actual human nature of democratic citizens. Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels deploy a wealth of social-scientific evidence, including ingenious original analyses of topics ranging from abortion politics and budget deficits to the Great Depression and shark attacks, to show that the familiar ideal of thoughtful citizens steering the ship of state from the voting booth is fundamentally misguided. They demonstrate that voters--even those who are well informed and politically engaged--mostly choose parties and…

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How Democracies Die

By Steven Levitsky , Daniel Ziblatt ,

Why I love this book

If you are worried about the decline of democracy in the United States or other parts of the world, this book will be troubling but maybe comforting as well.

Levitsky and Ziblatt carefully explain how democracy is a tenuous global concept and that the “guardrails” that we assume will protect us from an antidemocratic future are not as stable as we may think. Written in 2018, I hope they produce an updated edition soon.

How Democracies Die

By Steven Levitsky , Daniel Ziblatt ,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked How Democracies Die as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'The most important book of the Trump era' The Economist

How does a democracy die?
What can we do to save our own?
What lessons does history teach us?

In the 21st century democracy is threatened like never before.

Drawing insightful lessons from across history - from Pinochet's murderous Chilean regime to Erdogan's quiet dismantling in Turkey - Levitsky and Ziblatt explain why democracies fail, how leaders like Trump subvert them today and what each of us can do to protect our democratic rights.

'This book looks to history to provide a guide for defending democratic norms when they are…

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