{"product_id":"the-confidence-trap-a-history-of-democracy-in-crisis-from-world-war-i-to-the-present-revised-edition-9780691178134","title":"The Confidence Trap: A History of Democracy in Crisis from World War I to the Present - Revised Edition","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhy democracies believe they can survive any crisis--and why that belief is so dangerous\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhy do democracies keep lurching from success to failure? The current financial crisis is just the latest example of how things continue to go wrong, just when it looked like they were going right. In this wide-ranging, original, and compelling book, David Runciman tells the story of modern democracy through the history of moments of crisis, from the First World War to the economic crash of 2008. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA global history with a special focus on the United States, \u003ci\u003eThe Confidence Trap\u003c\/i\u003e examines how democracy survived threats ranging from the Great Depression to the Cuban missile crisis, and from Watergate to the collapse of Lehman Brothers. It also looks at the confusion and uncertainty created by unexpected victories, from the defeat of German autocracy in 1918 to the defeat of communism in 1989. Throughout, the book pays close attention to the politicians and thinkers who grappled with these crises: from Woodrow Wilson, Nehru, and Adenauer to Fukuyama and Obama. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Confidence Trap\u003c\/i\u003e, David Runciman shows that democracies are good at recovering from emergencies but bad at avoiding them. The lesson democracies tend to learn from their mistakes is that they can survive them--and that no crisis is as bad as it seems. Breeding complacency rather than wisdom, crises lead to the dangerous belief that democracies can muddle through anything--a confidence trap that may lead to a crisis that is just too big to escape, if it hasn't already. The most serious challenges confronting democracy today are debt, the war on terror, the rise of China, and climate change. If democracy is to survive them, it must figure out a way to break the confidence trap.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Runciman\u003c\/b\u003e is professor of politics at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Trinity Hall. His books include \u003ci\u003eThe Politics of Good Intentions\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003ePolitical Hypocrisy\u003c\/i\u003e (both Princeton). He writes regularly about politics for the \u003ci\u003eLondon Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50514314887442,"sku":"9780691178134","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_ef45adc5-bdf1-47f3-bbaf-1886003d1cea.jpg?v=1730979361","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-confidence-trap-a-history-of-democracy-in-crisis-from-world-war-i-to-the-present-revised-edition-9780691178134","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}