What do you think?
Rate this book
Anti-Pluralism: The Populist Threat to Liberal Democracy
The Great Recession, institutional dysfunction, a growing divide between urban and rural prospects, and failed efforts to effectively address immigration have paved the way for a populist backlash that disrupts the postwar bargain between political elites and citizens. Whether today's populism represents a corrective to unfair and obsolete policies or a threat to liberal democracy itself remains up for debate. Yet this much is clear: these challenges indict the triumphalism that accompanied liberal democratic consolidation after the collapse of the Soviet Union. To respond to today's crisis, good leaders must strive for inclusive economic growth while addressing fraught social and cultural issues, including demographic anxiety, with frank attention. Although reforms may stem the populist tide, liberal democratic life will always leave some citizens unsatisfied. This is a permanent source of vulnerability, but liberal democracy will endure so long as citizens believe it is worth fighting for.
160 pages, ebook
Published March 20, 2018
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 1, 2020
Galston is a long-time liberal theorist--never, I think, a provocatively original one (though I found some of his early work on "liberal virtues," as a way to conceptually bring civic republican/communitarian elements into the liberal philosophical sphere very helpful), but a reliably insightful one all the same. This short collection of essays, about four of which pretty tightly follow a single argument about the problem of populism for liberal democracies, is much the same--no truly surprising arguments, but plenty of succinct, thoughtful expressions of liberal ideas as they have been elaborated with greater philosophical depth elsewhere. I was disappointed--though not surprised--that in his consideration of the populist threat that he did not spend more than just a few paragraphs on the rural-urban divide, and about seeing contemporary cities as both the primary source of the cosmopolitanism and the finance-capitalism-induced inequality which so much populist resentment expresses itself again, as well as the potential sources of different type of populist attitude. But Galston is a thoroughly practical political animal, using arguments from throughout the history of political thought to basically settle on the liberal democratic and advanced industrial/capitalist state as, basically, the political entity that can effective muddle through the contradictory demands and needs of liberal modernity. Economic growth is necessary to mollify people as they experience the dislocations of growth; democratic empowerment and redistribution to the people must be combined with democratically determined limitations on the identity of the people. Basically, populism is a problem, but smart liberals will figure out ways to co-opt elements of the populist complaint and defuse it, as often as necessary. Not an inspiring work of political theory, obviously, but admirably straight-forward one.
March 25, 2020
This is better than "Us versus Them" by Bremmer but is still flawed - proposes a nuances view on the world while still adopting too-simplistic premises ("less educated" people tend to be less liberal). A good summary of populist tendencies but I would guess this was written in the vacuum of a think-tank and is, thus, sympathetic to an elistist perspective. No effort here to establish the perspective of the "less educated" or "rural" voter. I would think has this effort been made, the book might have been twice as long with half the platitudes....
December 16, 2020
I'd say this is a solid introduction to the political science side of the right-wing populist wave that swept democratic nations over the past few years. The problem is that Galston, who certainly demonstrates his intelligence and acute political analysis in this book, seems to be just that: a straightforward political analyst. As such, his analysis of the political phenomenon known as populism is heavily focused on politics, populations, history, and the structure and purpose and philosophy behind governance, society, and democracy.
Perhaps I have the privilege of coming from a field where we routinely use other social sciences to compliment our own. Therefore, I'm used to throwing in economics, psychology, sociology, history, political science, philosophy, and even environmental sciences into my own research and analysis of criminology and terrorism. I feel like Galston's analysis could use the same sort of diversity.
To be fair, he does touch upon other fields. But for example, bringing behavioral economics into the fold would help better explain why individuals and populations make the political and economic choices they make that can harm economic interests. Psychology can explain why tribalism and a culture of fear is such a defining feature of populism. I'm sure other books and research papers can come up with other examples that tie into other fields.
This book is still a recommend from me because Galston does a pretty superb job at explaining the political and philosophical side of liberal democracy, as well as its inherent political challenges. This is a nice beginning framework from which we can build a more comprehensive and cross-field explanation for anti-pluralism. For those not yet well versed in political science, it may indeed be a necessary and eye-opening introduction to uncovering why politics seemed to go insane over the past half decade.
Perhaps I have the privilege of coming from a field where we routinely use other social sciences to compliment our own. Therefore, I'm used to throwing in economics, psychology, sociology, history, political science, philosophy, and even environmental sciences into my own research and analysis of criminology and terrorism. I feel like Galston's analysis could use the same sort of diversity.
To be fair, he does touch upon other fields. But for example, bringing behavioral economics into the fold would help better explain why individuals and populations make the political and economic choices they make that can harm economic interests. Psychology can explain why tribalism and a culture of fear is such a defining feature of populism. I'm sure other books and research papers can come up with other examples that tie into other fields.
This book is still a recommend from me because Galston does a pretty superb job at explaining the political and philosophical side of liberal democracy, as well as its inherent political challenges. This is a nice beginning framework from which we can build a more comprehensive and cross-field explanation for anti-pluralism. For those not yet well versed in political science, it may indeed be a necessary and eye-opening introduction to uncovering why politics seemed to go insane over the past half decade.
June 21, 2018
Since this book was published by an academic press, I was concerned that it was written for an academic audience. Thankfully, this is not the case. It was a fast easy read (less than 150 pages in hardcover), with short, to-the-point sections. Galston walks the reader through definitions of liberal democracy and populism, and then gets to the reason this book interested me; why is there a wave of populism in America and Europe? He gets beyond the annoying explanations I hear all around me, like everyone who voted for Trump is a racist. I would recommend this book to anyone who is curious about the state of democracy around the world.
April 5, 2018
A very fine introduction to and assessment of political liberalism and the challenge of populism and tendencies toward illiberal democracy. The presentation of the subject within the global context is both informative and frightening. I appreciate the bibliographical citations in the footnotes. The author challenges me to read more and reflect more wholly on my desire to remsin in the liberal democratic mold.
June 22, 2022
Diagnosis for what ails liberal democracy
Gaston acknowledges that "liberal democracy is fragile, constantly threatened, always in need of repair" and highlights some contemporary threats posed by elitism and populism, two characteristic deformations of democracy. Populism has devolved into rabid nativism, what Ralston calls unbridled nationalism. He offers ways in which liberals might advocate moderate self preference in order to counter this scourge. Globalism has been reduced to transnational capitalism and multiculturalism and has birthed the anti-pluralism that sustains a dangerous dyadic social vision: the people versus the powerful. Galston encourages his readers to embrace Aristotelian moderation, coordination of wills and sober rhetoric rooted in character, emotion, and argument. We can survive our tribal atavisms if we retreat from ideological zeal.
Gaston acknowledges that "liberal democracy is fragile, constantly threatened, always in need of repair" and highlights some contemporary threats posed by elitism and populism, two characteristic deformations of democracy. Populism has devolved into rabid nativism, what Ralston calls unbridled nationalism. He offers ways in which liberals might advocate moderate self preference in order to counter this scourge. Globalism has been reduced to transnational capitalism and multiculturalism and has birthed the anti-pluralism that sustains a dangerous dyadic social vision: the people versus the powerful. Galston encourages his readers to embrace Aristotelian moderation, coordination of wills and sober rhetoric rooted in character, emotion, and argument. We can survive our tribal atavisms if we retreat from ideological zeal.
August 27, 2019
Anti-Pluralism: The Populist Threat to Liberal Democracy by professor William Galston is not particularly unique or impressive, but can readily be used as a useful base source for understanding populism and some of the elements facing trends in modern democratic nations. I will likely revisit it in the near future, and I have little complaints with the text. Sometimes things appeared to go a little too liberal, other times a little too conservative in understanding the events, and there appears to be a decisive Anti-Fukuyama element. The reference to Coriolanus was... well, flavorful, but I was left wondering why not just use a real world example rather than Shakespeare.
Well, whatever. I recommend this for most people interested in democracy in the twenty-first century.
90/100
Well, whatever. I recommend this for most people interested in democracy in the twenty-first century.
90/100
December 4, 2018
Great book. Galston's point that populism's main tenent is it anti-pluralism is well argued and I haven't really thought about it in that way previously. It explains why populist parties are not explicitly anti-democratic (and not necessarily so as a hidden agenda either). They can be democratic, but the problem with their anti-pluralism is of course that the human societies is plural, or the human being is defined by its plurality. In that way populism still becomes a threat to democracy as I understand it. Many good insights to bring with me anyway.
August 1, 2018
It doesn't address every aspect of the problem and probably should be read in conjunction with a number of other books on tangentially related subjects, but what it does address it addresses well. It's not an especially long book, so I presume that is what it is intended to do. A worthy addition to the discussion on the subject.
November 6, 2018
Livraço. Brasileiros vão ficar triggered ehehe.
July 3, 2022
Jedna z niewielu książek, która autentycznie zmieniła mój światopogląd. Świetne argumenty i przyjemnie się czyta 8/10
March 25, 2023
Fairly short, but good info. Not a particularly deep dive, but I thought it was solid if pretty dry.
August 20, 2020
This book is a theoretical primer into liberal democracy and populism (almost entirely right-wing populism while progressive populism is ignored), complete with excellent definitions therein.
SPOILER ALERT
My takeaway:
Right-wing populism is Us vs Them - us good, them evil
Us nationalist, them internationalist
Us homogeneous, them motley
Us workers, them elite
Us high school, them college
Us common-sensical, them technocratic
Us resentful, them condescending
The upshot: colored immigrants are evil
Yes, people like me should go back to the shit-hole countries where we came from
People like Trump are becoming the norm, not an aberration. We need to remove them from power.
SPOILER ALERT
My takeaway:
Right-wing populism is Us vs Them - us good, them evil
Us nationalist, them internationalist
Us homogeneous, them motley
Us workers, them elite
Us high school, them college
Us common-sensical, them technocratic
Us resentful, them condescending
The upshot: colored immigrants are evil
Yes, people like me should go back to the shit-hole countries where we came from
People like Trump are becoming the norm, not an aberration. We need to remove them from power.
April 28, 2020
With less than 200 pages, William A. Galston's Anti-Pluralism: The Populist Threat to Liberal Democracy is a rather concise volume on the rise of populism and the threat it poses to the liberal democratic order that has been the prime driver of thriving culture and economy in the West since the World War II. Galston briefly presents the political theory of the republican principle, democracy, constitutionalism, and liberalism, as well as the subtle dynamics between liberal democracy and market economy, and how the stagnancy of the post-war economy and the subsequent frustration of the democratic constituency increasingly make it difficult for liberal democracy to fulfill its promises, giving rise to populistic responses that appeal to nativistic concerns. All this is done by examining the recent developments in the U.S. and Europe, where democratic erosion and the acceptance of populism varies.
Overall this was a quick and educational read for me. However, compared to the astute observations and analyses of the current state of affairs, I feel the author came short of offering concrete, effective prescriptions for slowing or halting the erosion of liberal democracy. My optimism has not grown after finishing the book.
Overall this was a quick and educational read for me. However, compared to the astute observations and analyses of the current state of affairs, I feel the author came short of offering concrete, effective prescriptions for slowing or halting the erosion of liberal democracy. My optimism has not grown after finishing the book.
December 29, 2019
The threat of Populism looms over the nation. This book captures the details of our American political climate and does a wonderful job at looking objectively at every side of the story. Galston represents the classical liberal view and holds it against many of the piss-poor alternatives; he examines various foreign leaders and discusses the populist problem that’s thriving across the globe. I recommend to all my friends who want better insight into topics such as the 2016 Election, the Brexit ordeal, France’s national secularism, and others. We must always strive for a Pluralistic America. As one speaker put it, “It takes thick skin to live in a Pluralistic society.” Bravo!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews