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Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy from Its Worst Enemies, by Michael Signer
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A demagogue is a tyrant who owes his initial rise to the democratic support of the masses. Huey Long, Hugo Chavez, and Moqtada al-Sadr are all clear examples of this dangerous byproduct of democracy. Demagogue takes a long view of the fight to defend democracy from within, from the brutal general Cleon in ancient Athens, the demagogues who plagued the bloody French Revolution, George W. Bush's na�ve democratic experiment in Iraq, and beyond. This compelling narrative weaves stories about some of history's most fascinating figures, including Adolf Hitler, Senator Joe McCarthy, and General Douglas Macarthur, and explains how humanity's urge for liberty can give rise to dark forces that threaten that very freedom. To find the solution to democracy's demagogue problem, the book delves into the stories of four great thinkers who all personally struggled with democracy--Plato, Alexis de Tocqueville, Leo Strauss, and Hannah Arendt.
- Sales Rank: #740089 in Books
- Published on: 2009-02-03
- Released on: 2009-02-03
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x .75" w x 6.00" l, 1.00 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 272 pages
Review
“Demagogue is a simply extraordinary book. A fascinating work of political theory, an eloquent response to the Bush administration's disastrous efforts at promoting democracy, a roadmap for progressives seeking to chart a new foreign policy direction and an intellectual lifeline for anyone who believes America should be on freedom's side, and knows, in their heart, that there must be a better way.” ―Peter Beinart, author of The Good Fight: Why Liberals--and Only Liberals--Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
“The demagogue is the only enemy of democracy who pretends to be its friend. Michael Signer's erudite and eloquent defense of constitutional democracy against its demagogic counterfeit should be required reading for the citizens of established and emerging democracies alike.” ―Michael Lind, author of The American Way of Strategy: U.S. Foreign Policy and the American Way of Life
“Since our founding, Americans have seen our country's mission as bringing democracy to people around the world. The past few years have seen a lot of debate about how to spread democracy, but almost none about how to keep it alive in places where it is under attack. With a grounding in history and philosophy, Michael Signer offers an original foreign policy vision for the 21st century that puts democracy protection alongside democracy promotion. This is vital reading for anyone who cares about one of the great international challenges of the years ahead.” ―Andrei Cherny, Co-Editor Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, author The Next Deal and The Candy Bombers
“Michael Signer has written a strikingly original book. Demagogue tells the story of democracy by analyzing its antithesis – the often frighteningly charismatic leader who draws his strength from his purported connection to the demos itself. Amid the myriad studies of democracy and waves of democratization, of rising incomes, civil society, institutions and elections, Signer brings the human element back into the equation. The demagogue, he argues, is an eternal element in democracy's rise and fall, one that we ignore today, from Venezuela to Russia, at our peril.” ―Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University and author of The Idea That Is America
“With American democracy facing so many challenges at home and abroad, Demagogue could not have come at a more important moment. Michael Signer has given us a deeply thoughtful book, shedding new light on one of the most important ideas in American foreign policy and drawing vivid portraits of some of history's most troubling and pivotal figures. Written with refreshing clarity and flair, this is a book to enjoy – and not soon forget.” ―Derek Chollet, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and coauthor of America Between the Wars
About the Author
Michael Signer is Senior Policy Advisor at the Center for American Progress and Senior National Security Policy Fellow at the think tank Third Way. He was Senator John Edwards' foreign policy advisor on his presidential campaign. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today, and Democracy: A Journal of Ideas and he has been interviewed by The Washington Post, NPR, and MSNBC, among others. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.
Most helpful customer reviews
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful.
Review of Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy from its Worst Enemies
By Ruth A. Spinks
Demagogue was informative and thought inducing. Mike Signer has an engaging writing style interspersed with personal experiences / insights that makes Demagogue an easy, interesting read. His passion for democracy and the love of his country come through in his writing, but his optimism does not overshadow history. He acknowledges the contradictions of Jefferson owning slaves and the injustices of Andrew Jackson against the Native Americans.
My first impression of the book was "where was this book when I was sleeping through Western Civilization as an undergrad?" Demagogue quickly contextualizes the typical readings of a Western Civilization survey course with 21st century geopolitics, providing an historical context and theoretical framework of why democracy will survive in the U.S. Mike Signer shapes the major thesis of Demagogue through using the major philosophers and the demagogues that shaped their thinking. Starting with the ancient Greeks then moving quickly to the Constitutional framers the book presents the philosophy that provided the bedrock for the Constitution and the progression of democracy; reviewing Plato and Aristotle, Jefferson and the Constitutional framers and deTocquoville, as they relate to demagogues like Huey Long, Hitler and Moqtada al-Sadr. Mike illustrates his theory in a colorful, readable manner. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy from Its Worst Enemies
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
Signer's book is just in time!
By Ruth E. Fischer
Had I not spoken with Michael Signer at a political event, I would probably never have read Demagogue: The Fight To Save Democracy--and I would have been the poorer for it.
The purpose of his book is to provide a political theory, both empirical (what is) and normative (what can be), to craft a foreign policy that promotes democracy by working with people within their own cultural context--as opposed to installing/imposing "one size fits all" democracy from the outside. And while his argument for such a foreign policy is compelling, his writing is far richer for what it tells us about our own (constitutional) democracy.
Signer uses the four criteria posited by James Fenimore Cooper in 1838 (yes, the Last of the Mohicans guy) to describe the demagogue (used in the most negative way).He included the "political tsunami" (41) Cleon of Athens and from the 20th century foreign favorites such as Hitler and Mussolini and lesser known domestic ones, such as Huey Long, Father Coughlin, George Wallace, among others.
Against this background, Signer introduces "seven great political thinkers who personally grappled with the fight to save democracy" (22)--Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Jefferson, Alexis de Tocqueville, Leo Strauss, Hannah Arendt, and Walt Whitman (yes, the poet as political thinker!) While Plato and Strauss "joined [together] on the wrong side of the democracy divide" (149) basically asserting the common people needed an elite to govern them, the rest of our grapplers "call[ed] for a strengthened political role for ordinary people [we the people!], coupled with a greater civic education and a stronger sense of responsibility and obligation" (23).
Along the way, Signer reminded me that ours is a constitutional democracy based on our collective constitutional conscience (the mores that de Tocqueville described), which values the rule of law and the "spirit that underlies the law" (210). And while we do employ the mechanisms of a structural democracy (elections, political parties, etc.) our constitutional democracy is not to be confused with the mere structural democracies of countries such as Lebanon, Venezuela, Russia, Cuba--and, of course, Iraq.
Singer's prose is engaging and his tone objective and respectful. For example, he gives a cogent and, for me, quite enlightening history of the move from conservatism through neoconservatism to the present day neocon movement. His assessment of the Bush administration's disaster in Iraq was justifiably (IMO) pointed in fact and analysis but civil in tone.
As "we the people" recover from the Bush administration, Demagogue couldn't be more timely. After the eight years of the demagogic forces within his administration, this book is a (clich�d) "must read" for those of us who have wondered why the egregious attacks on our Constitution were allowed by "we the people" to happen. More important, however, is to realize ways that we can renew our collective constitutional conscience so such attacks are never allowed to happen again.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Growing democracy meets foreign policy
By JP Oddo
I especially liked the discussion of the "cycle of regimes" that started in ancient Greece. Signer managed to give readers an eloquent history lesson on the roots of democracies problems and the threats that are posed by those who would usurp the power granted them by the people. Too much blind devotion to a ruler tends to create a tyranny. The tyrant becomes corrupt. His enemies begin to die. The ship of state tends to flounder. Noblemen rise to overthrow the tyrant. Jealousy forces the disquieted people to conspire and overthrow the noblemen restarting the cycle with the next ruthless, charismatic personality with personal ambition.
Signer may believe too much in his described "constitutional conscious" as the means to hold off a demagogue in the face of a society lacking in civic knowledge and political engagement. Read this book and formulate you own opinion. Converse with me about your findings at usrepublic (at) aol dot com.
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