Here’s a sobering lesson from history for our times: more democracies wither away through subversive leaders who combine autocratic behaviour with the gradual erosion of unspoken norms that hold democracy together. Harvard political scientists Levitsky and Ziblatt look at US political history and other governments across the years to identify signs of autocratic behavior - weak commitment to democratic rules (banning certain organisations, restricting civil rights), denying the legitimacy of their political opponents (baselessly calling them criminal or a threat to a religion or a way of life), explicitly or tacitly endorsing violence by their supporters by refusing to condemn it or taking action, and supporting laws and policies that restrict civil liberties and praising repressive regimes in other parts of the world - that signal an eventual withering away of democracy and makes the case that a naive faith in “constitutional institutions” isn’t enough protection. While primarily written for a Trump-age America; this is an insightful and entertaining read that one could use to describe several countries and regimes today. India - anyone? #books #ziblatt #levitsky #indiaundermodi #trump #democracy https://www.instagram.com/p/BnElAl6nRSO/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=6t2ckuvjn2hw