Essential reading.

Cover to cover The Atlantic’s October issue is essential reading from some of the most varied minds in our country today. They were  invited to explore the premise of democracy’s demise. Topics include autocracy, tribalism, James Madison’s ‘Madisonian mob factions’, tyranny, and America’s courts by writers Anne Applebaum, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, Jeff Rosen, David Frum, Amy Chua, and others. The links are pinned below.

A note from The Atlantic:

Though these ills can be seen most plainly in the style and behavior of a growing number of political leaders worldwide, their sources run deeper than that. The aim of this package is to diagnose their serenity and root causes. 

Some of these causes are universal; some are unique to the United States. The essays are grouped to reflect this distinction, and then to consider solutions.

Sprinkled throughout are brief warnings about risks to democracy from The Atlantic’s archives–some prescient, some misplaced, and many all too relevant today.

These are some of the headlines, stories, and links.

Losing the Democratic Habit

Yoni Appelbaum

Americans once learned self-governance by practicing it constantly–in lodge halls, neighborhood associations, and labor unions. As participation in these institutions had dwindled, so had public faith in democracy. To restore it, we must return democratic practices to everyday life.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/10/losing-the-democratic-habit/568336/

The Threat of Tribalism

Amy Chua & Red Rubenfeld

The constitution once united a diverse country under a banner of ideas. But partisanship has turned Americans against one another–and against the principles enshrined in our founding document.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/10/losing-the-democratic-habit/568336/

Madison vs. The Mob

Jeffrey Rosen

The founders designed a government that would be insulted from the heat of popular sentiment, but they didn’t anticipate the unbridled passions of the digital age. Here’s how the constitutional order can survive.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/10/james-madison-mob-rule/568351/

America’s Courts Can’t Ignore the World

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer

The U.S. Constitution is an American document. And American law should look exclusively to American precedents. Right? Not so, a supreme Court Justice says. That approach sounds good in theory, but the laws of other countries have a bearing on our own–and the highest court in the land needs to take heed.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/10/james-madison-mob-rule/568351/

Building an Autocracy

David Frum

Will American democracy survive DT? And will the midterms matter?

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/10/building-an-autocracy/568282/

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Link to The Atlantic October issue:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/2018/10/