The Confidence Trap: A History of Democracy in Crisis from World War I to the Present

By David Runciman

Categories: History, Politics & Social Sciences

The Confidence Trap: A History of Democracy in Crisis from World War I to the Present (2013) is a book by political scientist David Runciman. Runciman examines democratic crises since 1918 and argues that democracies stumble from emergency to emergency, often complacent until danger is close. He contends that they nonetheless tend to survive and outlast authoritarian rivals, at a cost of muddle and delay.

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• Fareed Zakaria: “This week's book of the week is David Runciman's "The Confidence Trap." If you think American democracy doesn't work these days, you have to read this well-written book. Runciman starts with World War I and takes us through the recent financial crash showing how democracies and American democracy in particular lurched from crisis to crisis muddling along, but somehow always surviving outlasting their enemies and even thriving.”