Democracy's Death Knell?

The American sociologist Barrington Moore famously said: “No bourgeoisie. No democracy.” The Western middle classes’ travails are forcing us to re-learn the wisdom of that aphorism. It is not enough to observe that our crisis is rooted in the struggles of our middle class. That is certainly true. But it covers only some of what those of us who believe liberal democracy is in danger should be concerned about. As Sheri Berman conveys in her magisterial new book on the birth of modern European politics, history ought to give us a profound sense of modesty about whether we can ever take democracy for granted. “Snapshot analyses,” which search for causes located solely in the present, or the very recent past, only get us so far, she argues. We are likelier to repeat the mistakes of the past if we fail to relearn its lessons. “It has often taken tragedies like democratic collapse, violent dictatorships, and war to force elites and publics to recognize the value of liberal democracy and what it takes to actually make it work,” Berman writes.