The World's Best Book Summaries
Why did Trump condemn mainstream media? How did Trump’s “fake news” accusation become a propaganda tool? It’s not a secret that Donald Trump didn’t shy away from throwing around unfounded accusations. Trump’s infamous “fake news” was a good example of that. The former president effectively weaponized the term against mainstream media that gave unfavorable coverage to his administration. Here is what really lies behind Donald Trump’s favorite phrase.
How did Donald Trump win the election when all odds were against him? What were the key factors that helped him secure the Republican nomination in June 2015? When Trump launched his campaign for the Republican nomination in June 2015, he was a novelty candidate who stood little chance of actually winning. A total outsider to GOP politics, he had no close institutional ties to the party and seemed to lack even the most basic grounding in conservative ideology—not to mention his anti-immigration rhetoric that many leaders in the Republican Party considered to be extreme and outlandish. Here is how
Can American democracy be salvaged? What can be done to save the country from democratic decay? According to Levitsky and Ziblatt, the authors of How Democracies Die, democracy is a shared enterprise in which all participate together. The key to preserving democracy, they argue, is to transcend the partisan divide. To this end, they propose some reforms that can help rescue and strengthen it. In this article, we’ll discuss what can be done to save democracy in America, according to Levitsky and Ziblatt.
What is asymmetric polarization? Why are the political parties becoming increasingly polarized in America? Asymmetric polarization is where one party becomes more extreme than the other in its political stance. In their book How Democracies Die, Levitsky and Ziblatt argue that growing asymmetric polarization in American politics is due to two factors: 1) the power of conservative interest groups, and 2) the cultural homogeneity of the party’s base. We’ll discuss both of these factors below.
Who was Hubert Humphrey? How did Humphrey secure the Democratic Party nomination for the president without competing in the primaries? Hubert Humphrey served as the 39th vice president of the United States under Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration. In 1968, Hubert Humphrey became a nominee of the Democratic Party, despite him not having completed any primaries. According to political scientists Levitsky and Ziblatt, Hubert Humprey’s nomination is what prompted the call for the reform of the old presidential nomination system. Here’s why Humphrey’s nomination was such a blow to the old party system, according to Levitsky and Ziblatt.
Who is George Wallace? Under what party did Wallace run for president? Former Governor of Alabama George Wallace ran for president in 1968 under the American Independent Party banner. Although George Wallace had little effect on American politics, his 1968 presidential campaign remains a deeply significant event. Read more about the legacy of George Wallace’s presidential campaign below.
What is voter suppression? How do politicians suppress people from exercising their right to vote? Voter suppression in the United States involves any efforts (both legal and illegal) that prevent people from casting their votes. The most effective tactics are gerrymandering (the redrawing of election districts to lock in political advantage for one party) and restricting who is eligible to vote. In this article, we’ll look at a couple of historical examples of voter suppression.
Why is nationalism such a powerful concept? Why would many people die for their country but not for their political party or hometown? In his book Imagined Communities, Benedict Anderson says nationalism is a form of personal identity that creates bonds of loyalty and love. The only other identity that is as strong as nationalism is religion. Here’s what Anderson has to say about nationalism.
Where does the idea of “nationalism” stem from? What is Benedict Anderson’s theory of nationalism? According to Benedict Anderson, the author of Imagined Communities, the nation is simply a social construct. It has no biological or historical basis. Continue reading for Anderson’s nationalism theory.
Are humans more peaceful or destructive by nature? Is peace in society possible without central overseeing authority? In his book Skin in the Game, Nassim Taleb argues that peace is a natural state of human civilization. However, many people falsely assume that the natural state of civilization is ceaseless, destructive conflict, which leads them to believe that institutions need to intervene. In this article, we’ll explain why Taleb sees peace as the dominant status of civilization and how, when left to their own devices, people tend to resolve conflict and collaborate.