The Week Democracy Died: Seven Days in July That Changed the World as We Know It

Where this author sees the end of "liberal democracy" I see the end of Progressive Tyranny. The Soviet Union did not fail because of Communism. It failed because Administrative Government, the centralized control of everything by bureaucrats with the power to legislate, administer, and adjudicate, is a blueprint for failure. Europe didn't learn this lesson and built the European Union around a heart throbbing with bureaucrats regulating every aspect of European life. Sadly, America is on the same road. Why does it fail? Simple. When you and I make a mistake, who suffers? We do. When a central authority decides everything and makes a mistake, who fails? Everybody. Changing the system won't be without pain (as Britain is demonstrating). No single person riding a unicorn will lead us painlessly down a path to a better world. It takes leaders with courage and no small amount of recklessness to accomplish change. (No, Barack Obama wasn't up to that job.) The choice is whether we wait for the administrative government to implode and we begin rebuilding amid anarchy, or we start now to clean out the rubble and build on what is salvageable. I hope that whenever we do, we use the Constitution as our blueprint and hopefully stick to it this time.

The writer has an unusual view on what "liberal democracy" is and his interpretation of events. It sounds like a giant whine of a liberal crybaby with a keyboard in front of him.

Brexit was a vote by the people of Great Britain. Democracy in action. He didn't like the outcome. Perhaps freedom and sovereignty need to be considered too. Those concepts are every bit as important as "liberal democracy".

The coup in Turkey was by forces trying to stop a strongman gaining more power than he already had. I think we will see Turkey slide off the edge as a "democracy" in the very near future. The current regime there shows signs of political cleansing going on to ensure the power base is secured rather than working to determine what the people might actually want.

Yes the attack in Nice was horrific but we have sowed the wind on open/porous borders, we are now beginning to reap the whirlwind. If there is one thing that might undo democracy (however you choose to define it) in Europe it might be the influx of millions that do not embrace democracy as a way of government.

The middle east (Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Egypt etc.) have been driven in large part by a failure in US (western) policy in the region. Red lines in Syria that meant nothing. A departure from Iraq that spawned ISIS and the current issues we are dealing with. Libya in turmoil after we helped depose Khadafy and let the country then fall into the abyss. Yemen being assaulted by the Houthis and the Saudi response to it. In Egypt, we were on the wrong side in the "muslim spring" and the Egyptian military had to save their country from the radicalized muslm brotherhood. What all of these have in common is Obama and Clinton and failed/horrific policy in the region. No mention of that culpability in the article. Funny how slanted and disingenuous a single can be isn't it?

The author is a Harvard PhD and clearly a progressive liberal. He's so liberal that he can't actually write "conservative." He insists on calling American conservatives "illiberal"--meaning "not liberal," I suppose. The aim of the article is to tie together desperate events to say that liberal democracy is in danger from divergent forces including ISIS, Muslim fundamentalists, and the Republican Party. He's at least right about ISIS, but I don't think democracy is in any danger of disappearing if conservative powers take sway in the UK and US. I do believe that the US is in danger of heading down a path toward Socialism if we don't turn away from the liberal democrats in this election. The American Democrat party believes in anything but democracy when defined as the rule of the people. They clearly believe in the rule of the few. The select, liberal progressive few, such as Dr Mounk, who know best how to run the country. They will ignore the US Constitution and take control of the economy, banking, healthcare, education, and natural resources managing them for the benefit of the ignorant majority of citizens who aren't of their class and intelligence. I fear it's only a short way from there to a socialist dictatorship. Dr Mounk's article wanders around through current events and progressive philosophy in search of way to demonize conservatives and Mr Trump. In the end, he proves that liberal democrats will say or do about anything to further their perverted view of the world.