A pretty interesting (and really long) article about debates about democracy that occurred in the 1930s, although the author definitely is too generous on the parallels between then and now and...
A pretty interesting (and really long) article about debates about democracy that occurred in the 1930s, although the author definitely is too generous on the parallels between then and now and just general optimism.
The last time democracy nearly died all over the world and almost all at once, Americans argued about it, and then they tried to fix it. “The future of democracy is topic number one in the animated discussion going on all over America,” a contributor to the New York Times wrote in 1937. “In the Legislatures, over the radio, at the luncheon table, in the drawing rooms, at meetings of forums and in all kinds of groups of citizens everywhere, people are talking about the democratic way of life.” People bickered and people hollered, and they also made rules. “You are a liar!” one guy shouted from the audience during a political debate heard on the radio by ten million Americans, from Missoula to Tallahassee. “Now, now, we don’t allow that,” the moderator said, calmly, and asked him to leave.
A pretty interesting (and really long) article about debates about democracy that occurred in the 1930s, although the author definitely is too generous on the parallels between then and now and just general optimism.