About the Book
"What makes Trump immune is that he is not a president within the context of a healthy Republican government. He is a cult leader of a movement that has taken over a political party - and he specifically campaigned on a platform of one-man rule. This fact permeates "Can It Happen Here? . . . which concludes, if you read between the lines, that "it" already has." - New York Times Book Review
Several of the contributors...agree that American politics is susceptible to creeping authoritarianism and provide the intellectual underpinning. - Washington Post
With the election of Donald J. Trump, many people on both the left and right feared that America's 240-year-old grand experiment in democracy was coming to an end, and that Sinclair Lewis' satirical novel, It Can't Happen Here, written during the dark days of the 1930s, could finally be coming true. Is the democratic freedom that the United States symbolizes really secure? Can authoritarianism happen in America?
Acclaimed legal scholar, Harvard Professor, and New York Times bestselling author Cass R. Sunstein queried a number of the nation's leading thinkers. In this thought-provoking collection of essays, these distinguished thinkers and theorists explore the lessons of history, how democracies crumble, how propaganda works, and the role of the media, courts, elections, and fake news in the modern political landscape--and what the future of the United States may hold.
Contributors include:
Martha Minow, dean of Harvard Law SchoolEric Posner, law professor at the University of Chicago Law SchoolTyler Cowen, economics professor at George Mason UniversityTimur Kuran, economics and political science professor at Duke UniversityNoah Feldman, professor of law at Harvard Law SchoolJonathan Haidt, social psychologist and Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of BusinessJack Goldsmith, Professor at Harvard Law School, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and co-founder of LawfareStephen Holmes, Professor of Law at New York UniversityJon Elster, Professor of the Social Sciences at Columbia UniversityThomas Ginsburg, Professor of International Law and Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and a member of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesCass R. Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor, Harvard UniversityDuncan Watts, sociologist and principal researcher at Microsoft Research
About the Author :
Cass R. Sunstein is the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard University, where he is founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy and a columnist for Bloomberg View. His many books include the New York Times bestsellers The World According to Star Wars and Nudge (with Richard H. Thaler). He lives in Concord, Massachusetts.
Contributors include Bruce Ackerman, Jack M. Balkin, Tyler Cowen, Jon Elster, Noah Feldman, Tom Ginsburg, Jack Goldsmith, Jonathan Haidt, Stephen Holmes, Aziz Huq, Timur Kuran, Martha Minow, Eric A. Posner, Samantha Power, Karen Stenner, Geoffrey R. Stone, David A. Strauss, Cass R. Sunstein, and Duncan J. Watts
Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University. His blog, Marginal Revolution, is one of the world's most influential economics blogs. He also writes for the New York Times, Financial Times, and the Economist. He is the cofounder of Marginal Revolution University and the author of several books. He lives in Fairfax, Virginia.
Kaleo Griffith is an Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator and classically trained actor. He graduated cum laude from Franklin Pierce University with a BA in theater, holds an MFA in acting from Rutgers University, and is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He has appeared in such television series as Law & Order and Reggie's Family & Friends, among others.
Review :
A renowned legal scholar assembles a dream team of other legal authorities and cultural and political analysists to ponder the title, substance, and current relevance of It Can't Happen Here...Although most of the essayists are moderately sanguine about our survival, most see a pathway that a patient autocrat could take to delete and/or attenuate key Constitutional provisions-especially those most precious freedoms of speech and the press...Cautionary pieces well-informed by history, legal theory, and patriotism, all bubbling in a cauldron of anxiety.
-- "Kirkus Reviews"
Several of the contributors...agree that American politics is susceptible to creeping authoritarianism and provide the intellectual underpinning.
-- " Washington Post"
The best of the entries rouse the reader to think carefully and deeply about the prospects for American authoritarianism.
-- "Publishers Weekly"
What makes Trump immune is that he is not a president within the context of a healthy Republican government. He is a cult leader of a movement that has taken over a political party-and he specifically campaigned on a platform of one-man rule. This fact permeates Can It Happen Here?...which concludes, if you read between the lines, that 'it' already has.
-- " New York Times Book Review"
