Informed Community Book Club

Join us for the Informed Community Book Club,a space dedicated to exploring and discussing pertinent social, economic, and political issues. If you are interested in participating in our democratic institutions or just making friends, join us! Julys book will be How Democracies Die, by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. From the publishers website: Donald Trumps presidency has raised a question that many of us never thought wed be asking: Is our democracy in danger? Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have spent more than twenty years studying the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, and they believe the answer is yes. Democracy no longer ends with a bangin a revolution or military coupbut with a whimper: the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions, such as the judiciary and the press, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political norms. The good news is that there are several exit ramps on the road to authoritarianism. The bad news is that, by electing Trump, we have already passed the first one. Drawing on decades of research and a wide range of historical and global examples, from 1930s Europe to contemporary Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, to the American South during Jim Crow, Levitsky and Ziblatt show how democracies die. Now the question is, can our democracy be saved? The discussion will be hosted by former Los Gatos Planning Commissioner and current president of the Los Gatos Anti-Racism Coalition Jeff Suzuki.