For a political scientist who writes a ton about American politics, Mounk *really* needs to reread his E.E. Schattschneider.
(1/2 or 3)
Politics, rather, is about the mobilization of bias. Politics is about about power.
(2/3)
He wants to gather some wonderful debaters to show off just how nice that would be.
(3/4, I guess)
Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley LOVE the bland premise of liberal democracy as open debate.
It lets them wield structural power unchecked by anything but the clucking of tongues.
(4/5)
The regulatory state has withered and died.
Political elites defend outright graft, corruption, fascism and white supremacy.
Our elections are neither secure nor free and fair.
(5/6)
So why Persuasion? Why now?
Schattschneider teaches us to focus on how the terms of the debate are being set, and who sets them.
These are the wrong terms for 2020