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The Reactionary Spirit
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To save democracy in America and around the world, we need to understand the real source of the thread: the reactionary spirit.
From America to India, a distinct style of far-right politics – one that pays lip service to democratic ideals but seeks to undermine democracy from within – is on the brink of overthrowing some of the world’s oldest and most established democracies. Why?
In The Reactionary Spirit, journalist Zack Beauchamp traces the roots of this crisis back centuries to a conflict at the very heart of democracy. By grounding politics in the idea that no person has a right to rule any other, democracy encourages challenges to hierarchies of wealth and power. But those at the top won’t give up without a fight.
Beauchamp exposes how the need to oppose equality and protect hierarchy has powered anti-democracies for centuries. He reveals how, over time, antidemocratic reactionaries have learned to mask their authoritarian politics as a form of democracy – an insidious style of authoritarianism that began in the United States but has since spread globally.
This book presents a revolutionary new explanation for why our democracy seems so imperiled, but it also offers hope – telling readers what they can do to stop the reactionary spirit’s global rise before it’s too late.