Page 87 - The Economist Asia January 2018

The Economist January 27th 2018
2 liberals experimented with a range of Books and arts 71
ideas from devolving power from the cen-
tre to creatingnational education systems.
Mr Deneen’s fixation on the essence of
liberalism leads to the second big problem
of his book: his failure to recognise liberal-
ism’s ability to reform itselfand address its
internal problems. The late 19th century
saw America suffering from many of the
problems that are reappearing today, in-
cludingthe creation ofa businessaristocra-
cy, the rise of vast companies, the corrup-
tion of politics and the sense that society
wasdividinginto winnersand losers. Buta
wide variety ofreformers, working within
the liberal tradition, tackled these pro-
blems head on. Theodore Roosevelt took
on the trusts. Progressives cleaned up gov-
ernment corruption. University reformers
modernised academic syllabuses and
built ladders of opportunity. Rather than
dying, liberalism reformed itself.
Mr Deneen is right to point out that the
record of liberalism in recent years has But does he love what it stands for?
been dismal. He is also right to assert that
the world has much to learn from the pre- were in motion long before Mr Trump cies like the FBI have done much to defend
modern notions of liberty as self-mastery chugged into view. the rule oflaw, theynote. Buta surprisingly
and self-denial. The biggestenemyof liber- Two newbooksaboutthe president flirt thin “tissue of convention”, according to
alism is not so much atomisation but old- with just such an accident. For they share Aziz Huq and Tom Ginsburg, two constitu-
fashioned greed, as members ofthe Davos the same distracting aim: to prove that Mr tional scholars Mr Frum quotes, together
elite pile theirplateseverhigherwith perks Trump has already shown himself to be a with the courage of political leaders and
and share options. Buthe iswrongto argue proto-despot. members of Congress, are all that stand in
that the only way for people to liberate The first, “Trumpocracy” by David the way of a bad president who is deter-
themselves from the contradictions of lib- Frum, devotes long pages to cataloguing mined to pack courts with loyal judges, or
eralism is “liberation from liberalism it- alarming, deceitful and plain unseemly to appoint crooks to run nominally inde-
self”. The best way to read “Why Liberal- acts and statements by Mr Trump, his cro- pendent agencies.
ism Failed” isnotasa funeral oration butas nies and enablers. Mr Frum, a centrist con- Mr Levitsky and Mr Ziblatt go beyond
a call to action: up yourgame, orelse. 7 servative who worked as a White House anxious scanning for danger. They declare
speechwriterforPresidentGeorge W. Bush, that, on the evidence, Mr Trump has prob-
has a crisp way with words. “A rule-of-law ably crossed the line from rough-around-
Democracy state can withstand a certain amountof of- the-edges populist to would-be strong-
The Trump train ficial corruption. Whatitcannotwithstand man. Mr Frum considers what is already
is a culture of impunity,” he observes at
known about Russian meddling in the
one point, as he reminds readers that Mr election of 2016, and bluntly concludes: “A
Trump is the first president since Gerald president beholden to Russia had been
Ford not to release his tax returns in full, installed in the Oval Office.”
and the first ever to merge political and The professors take a more scholarly
business interests so unblushingly. The approach. They offer a neat table, setting
Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the clear prose style is just as well, for “Trum- out “Four Key Indicators of Authoritarian
American Republic. By David Frum. Harper; pocracy”, which draws heavily on quotes Behaviour” to help readers decide wheth-
320 pages; $25.99. To be published in Britain from published news reports, can resem- er Mr Trump is an autocrat. The table is
in February; £20
ble a first draft ofarticles ofimpeachment. enough to make Trump-sceptics leap from
How Democracies Die: What History Tells Grander, more didactic ambitions un- their armchairs in happy vindication. Un-
Us About Our Future. By Steven Levitsky derpin a second book, “How Democracies derthe firstheading, “Rejection of(orweak
and Daniel Ziblatt. Crown; 265 pages; $26. Die”, by two Harvard professors, Steven commitment to) democratic rules of the
Viking; £16.99 Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. The pair are game”, readers find not just blatant dicta-
experts on populism, demagoguery and tor-conduct (backing military coups, can-
RENCH railway crossings bear warning autocracy, notably in Europe and Latin cellingelections) buta more subtle last test,
Fsigns that writers of books about Do- America in the 19th and 20th centuries. “Do they attempt to undermine the legiti-
nald Trump should heed. “One Train Can Theiraim is to warn Americans, in particu- macy ofelections, forexample, by refusing
Hide Another” their neat enamel plaques lar, that their republic—for all its vaunted to accept credible electoral results?” Mr
declare. The risks of Trump-distraction are checks and balances—is not immune to the Trump has repeatedly and falsely suggest-
great, because the 45th president is such a pathologies which, over the years, have ed that he would have beaten Hillary Clin-
spectacle—a tooting, puffing, brass-and- infected and diseased otherdemocracies. ton in a landslide, had millionsnotillegally
steam-whistle commotion liable to draw Like Mr Frum, the professors correctly voted. Then there are Mr Trump’s attacks
all gazes, all the time. Buta narrow focuson stress the importance of unwritten norms on the press, and his snarling promises to
the man risks a potentially grave mistake: that buttress the formal protections that tighten libel laws against what he calls
paying too little attention to large, slow- are set out in America’s constitution and “fake news”. Such statements trigger the
rolling yet remorseless political forces that legal codes. Independent courts and agen- professors’ fourth indicator: “Readiness to 1