The United States faces extraordinary problems in terms of polarization, extremism, and radicalization which make it difficult to safeguard our democracy. There are many afflictions about which observers should worry: voter suppression, unfair institutions, dysfunctional governance, a toxic information ecosystem, a rise in societal tensions, and the possibility of legal coups. It is time to step back from this dangerous precipice and discuss why these developments represent such serious threats to American democracy. As power politics and authoritarianism gain strength, there are no guarantees facts will triumph over falsehoods and reason will dominate over emotion. Drawing on his personal experiences in the D.C. policy world, West offers advice for dealing with this high-risk situation and protecting people, organizations, and the country as a whole from the challenges that permeate the current environment.
Darrell M. West is vice president of the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of Divided Politics, Divided Nation: Hyperconflict in the Trump Era. West lives in Washington, DC.
"Blending political analysis with his personal observations as a Washington inside, Darrell West astutely diagnoses what ails the American political system from Trumpism to cancel culture. It is an urgent call for structural reform and cultural rejuvenation to save U.S. democracy before it is too late." Richard L. Hasen, University of California at Irvine and author of Cheap Speech: How Disinformation Poisons Our Politics--and How to Cure It "Darrell West has capitalized on his own background as a child of the Bible Belt, 26 years teaching political science at Brown University and 14 years as Director of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution to produce an insightful analysis of the contemporary political ecosystem. Power Politics is an exceptional, nuanced and innovative exploration of how we are stuck in one of the most dangerous moments in the nation's history." Thomas Edsall, New York Times columnist "If there is one thing we've all had to (re)learn over the last decade, it's that our Republic is surprisingly fragile. What Darrell West does in this book is different from many others on this topic. Instead of hand-wringing about a person or a single issue that is the lead cause of our current troubled democracy, he looks at some of the root causes of the corrosiveness and, yes, rot in some of our key institutions that help sustain the democracy. Like any problem that needs to be tackled, there isn't one thing that needs fixing, there is a lot and Darrell West identifies the many areas that need and deserve reform." Chuck Todd, host of NBC's "Meet the Press" "The forces now shaking our democracy didn't start with Donald Trump's arrival and won't end with his departure. Darrell West argues in his ambitious, alarming new book. He sees a 'perfect storm' of challenges in our economy, our culture, and our technology that threaten to undermine the American experiment. But we aren't helpless to begin responding, and he describes how to start." Susan Page, Washington bureau chief of USA Today and author of Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power "Liberal-minded students of politics will find West's arguments persuasive and his case well presented." Kirkus Reviews
