An Uncivil War: Taking Back Our Democracy in an Age of Trumpian Disinformation and Thunderdome Politics

by Greg Sargent

Overview

How we got here, how to fix it: “One of the sharpest-eyed observers of contemporary American politics . . . exposes the dismal roots of our current moment.” —Daniel Ziblatt, New York Times–bestselling coauthor of How Democracies Die

In An Uncivil War, the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent sounds an urgent alarm about the deeper roots of our democratic backsliding—and how to turn things around before it’s too late.

American democracy is facing a crisis as fraught as we’ve seen in decades. Donald Trump’s presidency and rhetoric has raised the specter of authoritarian rule. Extreme polarization and the scorched-earth war between the parties drags on with no end in sight. At the heart of this dangerous moment is a paradox: It took a figure as uniquely menacing as Trump to rivet the nation’s attention on the fragility of our democracy. Yet the causes of our dysfunction are long-running—they predate Trump, helped facilitate his rise, and, distressingly, will outlast him.

Sargent reveals why we’ve fallen into the ditch—and how to get out of it. Drawing upon years of research and reporting, he exposes the unparalleled sophistication and ambition of GOP tactics, including computer-generated gerrymandering, underhanded voter suppression, and ever-escalating legislative hardball. All of this has been accompanied by foreign-government intervention and an unprecedented level of political disinformation that threatens to undermine the very possibility of shared agreement on facts—and poses profound new challenges to the media’s ability to inform the citizenry. Yet the Republican Party is only part of the problem. As Sargent provocatively reveals, Democrats share culpability for helping to accelerate this slide.

But our plight is far from hopeless, and Sargent offers a series of doable prescriptions for saving our democracy, including a shift of focus toward state legislatures, creative voter registration policies, innovative approaches to fairer districting, and a new sense of purpose. The result is “a probing, sophisticated, very readable discussion of constitutional flaws and economic and ideological antagonisms, one that will give readers a deeper understanding of America’s political rot” (Publishers Weekly).

“The author’s explanation is crystal-clear, if alarming . . . a solid appeal to small-r republican virtues and an altogether readable polemic.” —Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062698476
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/15/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	787,870
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Greg Sargent writes the influential The Plum Line blog at the Washington Post. Previously, he wrote for New York magazine, the New York Observer, Talking Points Memo, and numerous political websites. He lives in Maryland with his family.

Table of Contents

1 A Dangerous Paradox 1

2 Voter Suppression: Into the Partisan Vortex 29

3 Demographic Destiny: The Battle to Shape the Electorate 51

4 "This Dystopia Where Nothing Is True…and Chaos Reigns": The Struggle to Get More Americans to Vote 75

5 Disinformation Nation 103

6 Is Fair Play Possible in Our Politics? 139

7 Total War: The Partisan Rigging of Elections 167

8 Conclusion: After the Trumpocalypse 195

Acknowledgments 227

Notes 231

Editorial Reviews

09/10/2018
Donald Trump’s presidency is the culmination of pathological tendencies in American—mainly Republican—politics, according to this furious broadside. Likening politics during the “Trumpocalypse” to Mad Max’s caged death duel, journalist Sargent, who writes the Plum Line blog at the Washington Post, delves into political science studies to diagnose America’s governmental dysfunctions. These include the gerrymandering of electoral districts to inflate Republican congressional representation; “voter suppression” laws that disadvantage Democratic voters (Texas’s voter ID law accepted gun licenses but not state and federal employee IDs); “constitutional hardball” tactics such as government shutdowns and judicial filibusters; and the torrent of fake news, lies, and calumnies emanating from presidential tweets, Russian social media bots, and the right-wing media echo chamber. (Democrats sometimes commit these sins, the author allows, but he insists Republican “villainy” in “entrenching minority rule” is far worse.) Sargent’s avowed pro-Democratic tilt and untrammeled invective—Trump is a “madman president” who is “supercharging” our “political degradation” with his “racism, nativism, ethnonationalism, and misogyny”—sometimes resemble the vitriolic partisanship he deplores on the Republican side. Fortunately, in more reflective moods he manages a probing, sophisticated, very readable discussion of constitutional flaws and economic and ideological antagonisms, one that will give readers a deeper understanding of America’s political rot. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Sargent has produced a clear, insightful account of our current condition, informed by impressive immersion in the best work of political scientists as well as investigative journalists…An Uncivil War merits wide readership.” — Washington Post

“A must-read.” — Political Wire

“Greg Sargent is one of the best political journalists in the country today. In his must-read new book An Uncivil War he writes powerfully about the many threats facing democracy in the Trump era and why every American should care. A timely, important, compelling read.” — Ari Berman, senior reporter at Mother Jones and author of Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America  

“Greg Sargent is one of the sharpest-eyed observers of contemporary American politics. By deftly weaving together his own reporting and the most up-to date political science research, he exposes the dismal roots of our current moment.” — Daniel Ziblatt, co-author of How Democracies Die

“Greg Sargent has established himself as one of the shrewdest and most important progressive writers of the Trump era. In An Uncivil War, he lucidly diagnoses the problems of American democracy that facilitated Trump’s rise and describes our recent past to paint a portrait of a better future.” — E.J. Dionne Jr., co-author of One Nation After Trump

“A passionate and articulate voice for progressive politics and policies...This important book draws on all [Sargent] has learned and written about, with a deep dive into the research on American democracy, to look at where we have gone wrong and what we can do to fix it.” — Norman J. Ornstein, co-author of It’s Even Worse Than It Looks and One Nation After Trump

“Sargent’s analysis of these issues is refreshingly fair-minded [and] offers some useful suggestions. That will not only get us through the Trumpocalypse, it will get us to a better place than we were before.” — Progressive Magazine

“Donald Trump’s presidency is the culmination of pathological tendencies in American—mainly Republican—politics, according to this furious broadside… a probing, sophisticated, very readable discussion of constitutional flaws and economic and ideological antagonisms, one that will give readers a deeper understanding of America’s political rot.” — Publishers Weekly

“The author’s explanation is crystal-clear, if alarming… a solid appeal to small-r republican virtues and an altogether readable polemic.” — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

A passionate and articulate voice for progressive politics and policies...This important book draws on all [Sargent] has learned and written about, with a deep dive into the research on American democracy, to look at where we have gone wrong and what we can do to fix it.

Norman J. Ornstein

Greg Sargent is one of the best political journalists in the country today. In his must-read new book An Uncivil War he writes powerfully about the many threats facing democracy in the Trump era and why every American should care. A timely, important, compelling read.

Ari Berman

A must-read.

Political Wire

Sargent has produced a clear, insightful account of our current condition, informed by impressive immersion in the best work of political scientists as well as investigative journalists…An Uncivil War merits wide readership.

Washington Post

Greg Sargent has established himself as one of the shrewdest and most important progressive writers of the Trump era. In An Uncivil War, he lucidly diagnoses the problems of American democracy that facilitated Trump’s rise and describes our recent past to paint a portrait of a better future.

co-author of One Nation After Trump E.J. Dionne Jr.

Sargent’s analysis of these issues is refreshingly fair-minded [and] offers some useful suggestions. That will not only get us through the Trumpocalypse, it will get us to a better place than we were before.

Progressive Magazine

Greg Sargent is one of the sharpest-eyed observers of contemporary American politics. By deftly weaving together his own reporting and the most up-to date political science research, he exposes the dismal roots of our current moment.

Daniel Ziblatt

Sargent has produced a clear, insightful account of our current condition, informed by impressive immersion in the best work of political scientists as well as investigative journalists…An Uncivil War merits wide readership.

Washington Post

2018-09-12

A gimlet-eyed look at the mean corridors of power in Washington, with a welcome reminder that this, too, shall—might?—pass.

How did we arrive at our current appalling state of affairs, politically speaking? There are many ingredients in that particular stew, writes Washington Post political blogger Sargent. There's the free-floating rage that has descended on the land, encouraging what the author calls "thunderdome politics," the decline of the political conversation into some sort of degenerate blood sport that may be amusing to a few but that drives away others who should be participating. There's gerrymandering and, with it, vote suppression and what Sargent calls "vote wasting"—and if readers are unclear about how those things work, the author's explanation is crystal-clear, if alarming. There are the sitting president's attacks on democratic institutions and his clear autocratic tendencies, all enabled by a weak congressional cohort and a host of willing sycophants. "The GOP Congress," writes Sargent with nice thunder, "largely remains Trump's faithful enabler, effectively shielding his corruption from public scrutiny and accountability, and actively aiding and abetting his efforts to undermine the independence of law enforcement in the quest to avoid scrutiny and accountability." And then there's the president's constant lying, a trope that turns up again and again in these pages, as if we should somehow be surprised by it after all this time. The recitation might be tiresome if Sargent had not ventured some counterpunches, including his useful suggestion that, given their supposed status as enemies, journalists and publications should band together in resistance and "redouble their commitment" to core democratic values. Throughout, Sargent reassures readers that we've seen worse and lived to tell the tale and that "there are reasons to be optimistic that our institutions are, while battered and black-eyed, largely holding up in the face of Trump's degradations."

Not much to surprise politically aware readers, but a solid appeal to small-r republican virtues and an altogether readable polemic.

Kirkus Reviews