Tracing the rise of illiberalism
Thomas Main argues that illiberalism is the basic repudiation of liberal democracy, the very foundation on which the United States rests. He joins us this week to discuss how we got here and what we can do about it.
Democracy Works · Thomas Main, Michael Berkman, Chris Beem, Jenna Spinelle
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Show Notes
Thomas Main's new book The Rise of Illiberalism explores the philosophical underpinnings of this toxic political ideology and documents how it has infiltrated the mainstream of political discourse in the United States. By the early twenty-first century, Main writes, liberal democracy’s failure to deal adequately with social problems created a space illiberal movements could exploit to promote their particular brands of identity politics as an alternative.
While illiberalism has found a home across the political spectrum, it is far more prevalent on the right — so much so that it appears to have taken over the modern-day Republican Party as evidenced on January 6, 2021. We explore those ideas with Main this week and also revisit the foundations of liberal democracy as outlined in the Declaration of Independence.
Additional Information
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