Defending Democracy

Reactions to Extremism in Interwar Europe

Bibliographic Data

ID7953404
AuthorsGerard Alexander (0000-0003-3531-5099, University of Virginia, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume3
Issue4
Pages917-918
Publication date2005-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePerspectives on Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1537-5927 • E-ISSN: 1541-0986
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s153759270562049x
OpenAlexW2040134769
LanguageEN
Citations received8

Defending Democracy: Reactions to Extremism in Interwar Europe. By Giovanni Capoccia. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. 352p. $49.95. This study elaborates a central aspect of Juan Linz's (1978) Crisis, Breakdown, and Re-equilibration : a focus on choices made by democratic incumbents facing extremist challengers aiming to install nondemocratic rule. To put it in Linzian terms, Giovanni Capoccia seeks to develop Linz's “mentality” on that subject into a more systematic statement. Linz claimed that these leaders' choices are crucial, and he illustrated with examples; Capoccia rightly proposes that such a claim deserves monographic treatment in its own right. His effort is illuminating on several counts but falls short of full persuasiveness on others

Democracy · Economic history · Focus (optics · Library science · Physics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Statement (logic · Subject (documents · History · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Religion and Society Interactions