Political Science

A lively history of American libertarianism and its decay into dangerous fantasy. In 2010 in South Fulton, Tennessee, each household paid the local fire department a yearly fee of $75.00. That year, Gene Cranick's house accidentally caught fire. But the fire department refused to come because Cranick had forgotten to pay his yearly fee, leaving his home in ashes. Observers across the political spectrum agreed-some with horror and some with enthusiasm-that this revealed the true face of libertarianism. But libertarianism did not always require callous indifference to the misfortunes of others. Modern libertarianism began with Friedrich Hayek's admirable corrective to the Depression-era vogue for central economic planning. It resisted oppressive state power. It showed how capitalism could improve life for everyone. Yet today, it's a toxic blend of anarchism, disdain for the weak, and rationalization for environmental catastrophe. Libertarians today accept new, radical arguments-which crumble under scrutiny-that justify dishonest business practices and Covid deniers who refuse to wear masks in the name of freedom. Andrew Koppelman's book traces libertarianism's evolution from Hayek's moderate pro-market ideas to the romantic fabulism of Murray Rothbard, Robert Nozick, and Ayn Rand, and Charles Koch's promotion of climate change denial. Burning Down the House is the definitive history of an ideological movement that has reshaped American politics--

Qui vote pour qui et pourquoi ? Comment la structure sociale des électorats des différents courants politiques en France a-t-elle évolué de 1789 à 2022 ? En s'appuyant sur un travail inédit de numérisation des données électorales et socio-économiques des 36000 communes de France couvrant plus de deux siècles, cet ouvrage propose une histoire du vote et des inégalités à partir du laboratoire français. Au-delà de son intérêt historique, ce livre apporte un regard neuf sur les crises du présent et leur possible dénouement. La tripartition de la vie politique issue des élections de 2022, avec d'une part un bloc central regroupant un électorat socialement beaucoup plus favorisé que la moyenne - et réunissant d'après les sources ici rassemblées le vote le plus bourgeois de toute l'histoire de France -, et de l'autre des classes populaires urbaines et rurales divisées entre les deux autres blocs, ne peut être correctement analysée qu'en prenant le recul historique nécessaire. En particulier, ce n'est qu'en remontant à la fin du 19e siècle et au début du 20e siècle, à une époque où l'on observait des formes similaires de tripartition avant que la bipolarisation ne l'emporte pendant la majeure partie du siècle dernier, que l'on peut comprendre les tensions à l'œuvre aujourd'hui. La tripartition a toujours été instable alors que c'est la bipartition qui a permis le progrès économique et social. Comparer de façon minutieuse les différentes configurations permet de mieux envisager plusieurs trajectoires d'évolutions possibles pour les décennies à venir. Une entreprise d'une ambition unique qui ouvre des perspectives nouvelles pour sortir de la crise actuelle. Toutes les données collectées au niveau des 36 000 communes de France sont disponibles en ligne en accès libre sur le site unehistoireduconflitpolitique.fr, qui comprend des centaines de cartes, graphiques et tableaux interactifs auxquels le lecteur pourra se reporter afin d'approfondir ses propres analyses et hypothèses.--Page 4 of cover.

A call to reform our antiquated political institutions before it's too late-from the New York Times bestselling authors of How Democracies Die. America is undergoing a massive experiment: It is moving, in fits and starts, toward a multiracial democracy, something few societies have ever done. But the prospect of change has sparked an authoritarian backlash that threatens the very foundations of our political system. Why is democracy under assault here, and not in other wealthy, diversifying nations? And what can we do to save it? With the clarity and brilliance that made their first book, How Democracies Die, a global bestseller, Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt offer a coherent framework for understanding these volatile times. They draw on a wealth of examples-from 1930s France to present-day Thailand-to explain why and how political parties turn against democracy. They then show how our Constitution makes us uniquely vulnerable to attacks from within: It is a pernicious enabler of minority rule, allowing partisan minorities to consistently thwart and even rule over popular majorities. Most modern democracies-from Germany and Sweden to Argentina and New Zealand-have eliminated outdated institutions like elite upper chambers, indirect elections, and lifetime tenure for judges. The United States lags dangerously behind. In this revelatory book, Levitsky and Ziblatt issue an urgent call to perfect our national experiment. It's a daunting task, but we have remade our country before-most notably, after the Civil War and during the Progressive Era. And now we are at a crossroads: America will either become a multiracial democracy or cease to be a democracy at all--

The Golden Passport is the first on-the-ground investigation of investor citizenship. Some 50,000 people annually pay cash for citizenship in various microstates desperate for investment. Kristin Surak uncovers the surprising motivations of the buyers, the effects on seller-state locals, and the geopolitical dynamics driving the industry--

An authoritative, illuminating look at America's future and the tests the United States must meet to maintain leadership and power in the 21st century-from the former US Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe--

From Notre Dame professor and author of Why Liberalism Failed comes a provocative call for replacing the tyranny of the self-serving liberal elite with conservative leaders aligned with the interests of the working class. Classical liberalism promised to overthrow the old aristocracy, creating an order in which individuals could create their own identities and futures. To some extent it did-but it has also demolished the traditions and institutions that nourished ordinary people and created a new and exploitative ruling class. This class's economic libertarianism, progressive values, and technocratic commitments have led them to rule for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many, precipitating our current political crises. In Regime Change, Patrick Deneen proposes a bold plan for replacing the liberal elite and the ideology that created and empowered them. Grass-roots populist efforts to destroy the ruling class altogether are naive; what's needed is the strategic formation of a new elite devoted to a pre-postmodern conservatism and aligned with the interest of the many. Their top-down efforts to form a new governing philosophy, ethos, and class could transform our broken regime from one that serves only the so-called meritocrats. Drawing on the oldest lessons of the western tradition but recognizing the changed conditions that arise in liberal modernity, Deneen offers a roadmap for these changes, offering hope for progress after progress and liberty after liberalism--