evidence presented by Levitsky and Ziblatt. In your own words, please explain how democracies die,
and how the basic features of democratic decline are reflected in contemporary American politics.
When writing your summary, please use specific examples, events, and as much terminology as possible. A rule of thumb is to make sure the key points would be clear to a reader who has not read
the book.
In the second part of the paper (3-4 pages) please apply Levitsky and Ziblatt’s thesis about the
decline of democracy in the United States to events of the past few years. Namely, since November
of 2020 we have had: (1) a free and fair election marked by record turnout and a new administration;
(2) legal challenges to the election results including false claims of voter fraud; (3) a violent
insurrection at the Capitol where rioters sought to overturn the election; (4) a range of newly enacted
state laws that may make it harder to vote in the name of election security; (5) new legislation passed
by Biden and his Democratic counterparts in Congress; (6) a range of recent Supreme Court rulings;
(7) congressional hearings on the January 6 insurrection; and (8) Donald Trump’s reemergence as a
presidential candidate. As noted above, the question you should write about is whether the book’s
main arguments still apply given these recent events. Is democracy in America still under threat?
Why or why not?