Overview
For a clear-eyed look at the state of US democracy, read the book by Allan Lichtman that Foreword says ""takes a welcome nonpartisan, straightforward approach"" America’s founders feared a president like Donald Trump. Through the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, they erected a fortified but constrained government to secure the benchmarks of our democracy and established the guardrails designed to protect it. But Trump pushed almost every one of the Framers’ safeguards to its limit—most held, but some broke under the weight of presidential abuses even the Framers did not foresee. Thirteen Cracks will be the first book to expose the most vulnerable areas in our democracy, explain in historical context how President Trump uniquely and outrageously exploited these weak spots, and propose a fix for each challenge. Historian Allan J. Lichtman argues that Trump has put us at a pivot point in our history, where the survival of American democracy is at stake. But this is also an historic opportunity to shore up the vulnerabilities and to strengthen our democracy.
Full Product Details
Author: Allan J. Lichtman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.40cm
, Length: 22.40cm
Weight: 0.417kg
ISBN: 9781538156513
ISBN 10: 1538156512
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 08 November 2021
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
As America moves into a new era, pundits and scholars are asking how badly American democracy and its institutions have been damaged by Trump and his followers. The answer is: it's serious. Lichtman looks at 13 aspects of American democracy, analyzes how they have been damaged, and then offers reasonable, intelligent advice on how to repair or ameliorate the damage. These subjects include reclaiming truth, policing conflicts of interest, expanding transparency, and stopping cronyism and nepotism. Also, while the focus is primarily on former President Trump, Lichtman takes a historian's long view, noting that many of these corrupt practices date back to George Washington's presidency. This additional historical perspective shows that the American ideal has been a constant work in progress, giving hope that our current dilemma might be resolved to positive effect. Lichtman's proffered solutions, however reasonable they may be, however, depend on one of two things happening: either Democrats must remain the majority party, or the Trumpist Republicans have to abandon their obstructionist ways. For Lichtman, hope springs eternal. With fresh, inventive, and sound ideas--what he calls a blueprint for reform in the early post-Trump months--Allan Lichtman, one of the most widely knowledgeable historians of the American past, provides a set of robust proposals for essential changes in American government to prevent the further erosion of federal institutions, practices, and norms. It should be read widely in Congress and by everyone concerned with the perilous state of American government and politics.--James M. Banner, Jr., editor of Presidential Misconduct: From George Washington to Today The question of whether our constitutional democracy will survive the next decade has become the most urgent problem of American politics. In his newest book, Allan Lichtman offers an acute diagnosis of thirteen of the most troubling ailments vexing our political system and prescribes an ingenious remedy for each. Writing with an almost Madisonian concision, Lichtman makes an essential contribution to the growing literature on the danger of democratic decline.--Jack Rakove, Pulitzer Prize-winning Author of Original Meanings; William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies, Emeritus, Stanford University
The question of whether our constitutional democracy will survive the next decade has become the most urgent problem of American politics. In his newest book, Allan Lichtman offers an acute diagnosis of thirteen of the most troubling ailments vexing our political system and prescribes an ingenious remedy for each. Writing with an almost Madisonian concision, Lichtman makes an essential contribution to the growing literature on the danger of democratic decline.--Jack Rakove, Pulitzer Prize-winning Author of Original Meanings; William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies, Emeritus, Stanford University With fresh, inventive, and sound ideas--what he calls a blueprint for reform in the early post-Trump months--Allan Lichtman, one of the most widely knowledgeable historians of the American past, provides a set of robust proposals for essential changes in American government to prevent the further erosion of federal institutions, practices, and norms. It should be read widely in Congress and by everyone concerned with the perilous state of American government and politics.--James M. Banner, Jr., editor of Presidential Misconduct: From George Washington to Today
With fresh, inventive, and sound ideas--what he calls a blueprint for reform in the early post-Trump months--Allan Lichtman, one of the most widely knowledgeable historians of the American past, provides a set of robust proposals for essential changes in American government to prevent the further erosion of federal institutions, practices, and norms. It should be read widely in Congress and by everyone concerned with the perilous state of American government and politics.--James M. Banner, Jr., editor of Presidential Misconduct: From George Washington to Today The question of whether our constitutional democracy will survive the next decade has become the most urgent problem of American politics. In his newest book, Allan Lichtman offers an acute diagnosis of thirteen of the most troubling ailments vexing our political system and prescribes an ingenious remedy for each. Writing with an almost Madisonian concision, Lichtman makes an essential contribution to the growing literature on the danger of democratic decline.--Jack Rakove, Pulitzer Prize-winning Author of Original Meanings; William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies, Emeritus, Stanford University
Author Information
Allan J. Lichtman is Distinguished Professor of History at American University and the author of many acclaimed books on U.S. political history, including White Protestant Nation: The Rise of the American Conservative Movement, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, FDR and the Jews (with Richard Breitman), and The Case for Impeachment. He is regularly sought out by the media for his authoritative views on voting and elections. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.
