Democracy in Crisis: Why, Where, How to Respond

Rich’s experience heading the U.N. Democracy Fund certainly qualifies him to diagnose the current problems with democracy worldwide and offer solutions, but his idiosyncratic approach is an unnecessary distraction. For example, his timely postscript on the implications for American democracy after President Trump’s election is prefaced by an unilluminating description of the book and TV show that he turned to for escapism following Election Day. And despite that folksy stance toward his audience, Rich also lapses into wonk-speak that will put off lay readers, as when he writes that “21st-century aid needs to break free from its Westphalian and S5YP paradigms.” He confuses matters with pronouncements such as “Theory is simply another word for causation.” These drawbacks are unfortunate, as Rich otherwise takes a thoughtful look at the challenges democracy faces throughout the world, noting that “modern democracy is a fragile system of government that has not yet been consolidated on a global scale and may yet to prove to be as historically fleeting as its predecessors.” Though he backs that assertion up with concrete examples, this is a less valuable resource on the topic than similarly themed books such as Brian Klaas’s The Despot’s Accomplice. (Aug.)