Demagogue

"An intellectual lifeline for anyone who believes America should be on freedom's side, and knows, in their heart, that there must be a better way." —Peter Beinart, New York Times–bestselling author

A demagogue is a tyrant who owes his initial rise to the democratic support of the masses. Huey Long, Hugo Chavez, and Moqtada al-Sadr are all clear examples of this dangerous byproduct of democracy. Demagogue takes a long view of the fight to defend democracy from within, from the brutal general Cleon in ancient Athens, the demagogues who plagued the bloody French Revolution, George W. Bush's naïve democratic experiment in Iraq, and beyond. This compelling narrative weaves stories about some of history's most fascinating figures, including Adolf Hitler, Senator Joe McCarthy, and General Douglas Macarthur, and explains how humanity's urge for liberty can give rise to dark forces that threaten that very freedom. To find the solution to democracy's demagogue problem, the book delves into the stories of four great thinkers who all personally struggled with democracy—Plato, Alexis de Tocqueville, Leo Strauss, and Hannah Arendt.

"Michael Signer's erudite and eloquent defense of constitutional democracy against its demagogic counterfeit should be required reading for the citizens of established and emerging democracies alike." —Michael Lind, author of The New Class War

"An original foreign policy vision for the 21st century that puts democracy protection alongside democracy promotion. This is vital reading for anyone who cares about one of the great international challenges of the years ahead." —Andrei Cherny, author of The Candy Bombers