FOLLOW THE LEADER

Abstract

How much should we worry about democracy in the world today? Building on Brownlee and Miao's useful interjection that rich democracies (still) don't die, this essay offers some alternative ways to approach the threat faced by wealthy democracies, in addition to the critical role of the macroeconomic structural factors that they highlight. The essay advocates for more attention to the possibility that democracy can weaken in consequential ways short of death, how leaders damage institutions without destroying them, and the crucial role that citizens can play in replenishing democratic resilience.