Very illuminating.

Very thoughtful and thought provoking book. The idea that democratization of our politics, meaning more transparency and more direct governance by the people, causes some of the disfunction in our political system rings true. The result is growing dissatisfaction with elites. Because these elites are too beholden to small interest groups with lots of money and lobbyists with the loudest voices in the room. The US Senate is a highly disfunctional body, whether under Harry Reid or Mitch Mcconnell leadership. Now part of Zakaria's argument is that many of the institutions in government like the Fed, EU, WTO (which do not operate under direct political influence) function well without being hamstrung by inertia and paralysis by small interest groups as do our congressional bodies. So it appears we do need elites for democracy to function. And apparently James Madison predicted this in the Federalist papers (and this is referred to in this book) to avoid rule by the minority. So, the thought occurs that in order to get our Senate functioning again ( and our political life less stridently partisan), it ( the Senate) needs to be un- democratized, it needs to be made into a body unfettered by politics, an elite group of statesmen who will make decisions for the long haul not for short term gain. For the good of the USA. How to do that? That is the question. Term limits (12 years one term and done). Campaign paid for purely by tax payer money, no Citizens United free speech=money donations or even small donor money ? Somehow the 17th Amendment giving direct election of the Senate needs some type of correction. Only then will the imbalanced rule by the minority and government gridlock be eliminated and our democracy preserved.

Very thorough and well thought out criticism and evaluation of current and nascent democracies around the world.

Old, but still valuable

I enjoyed mainly the first half, which explains the roots of democracy. Deep dive into local problems the US has with democracy was interesting, sometimes even relatable, but for someone from a different part of the world less attractive to read. And, the elephant in the room is, of course, that the book is almost two decades old now. In many situations I caught myself thinking “would Fareed write the same sentence or conclusion today?” or “how funny to read this, given how the history turned out to be”. It would be far more interesting to read the same book if it was written a year ago.