The Greatest Books of All Time on Democracy

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
229 Democracy in America Alexis de Tocqueville 1835 French French
1881 The Machiavellians James Burnham 1943 American English
2070 The Age of Reform Richard Hofstadter 1955 American English
2417 The Age of Jackson Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr 1945 American English
3406 The Great Indian Novel Shashi Tharoor 1989 Indian English
3491 Democracy and Leadership Irving Babbitt 1924 American English
3609 The Knights Aristophanes -424 Greek Ancient greek
3952 The End of History and the Last Man Francis Fukuyama 1992 American English
4364 The Anatomy Of A Moment Javier Cercas 2009 Spanish Spanish
5094 Where Do We Go From Here Martin Luther King 1967 American English
6172 Philosophy and Civilization John Dewey 1931 American English
6371 The Promise of American Life Herbert Croly 1909 American English
6995 Contours of American History William Appleman Williams 1961 American English
7034 Democracy And Power In An American City Robert Dahl 1961 American English
7047 The Making of the President, 1960 Theodore White 1961 American English
7215 Specimen Days Walt Whitman 1882 American English
7215 It Can't Happen Here Sinclair Lewis 1935 American English
7930 Four Essays On Liberty Isaiah Berlin 1969 British English
8277 The Authoritarian Dynamic Karen Stenner 2005 American English
8569 Fear Itself Ira Katznelson 2013 American English
9216 On Tyranny Timothy Snyder 2017 American English
9615 Give Us The Ballot Ari Berman 2015 American English
9632 The Future Of Democracy Norberto Bobbio 1984 Italian Italian
9771 Democracy For Realists Christopher H. Achen, Larry Bartels 2016 American English
9856 Democratic Vistas Walt Whitman 1871 American English
10058 Die Totalitäre Erfahrung Karl Dietrich Bracher 1987 German German
10076 One Person, No Vote Carol Anderson 2018 American English
10076 To Shape A New World Tommie Shelby, Brandon M. Terry 2018 American English
11526 Selected Speeches Demosthenes, Robin Waterfield -322 Greek Greek
11660 The Assassins’ Gate George Packer 2005 American English
11660 Walt Whitman Justin Kaplan 1980 American English
11660 Walt Whitman Paul Zweig 1984 American English
11660 A Machine That Would Go Of Itself Michael Kammen 1987 American English
11939 Whitman Emory Holloway 1926 American English
12324 American Scripture Pauline Maier 1997 American English
12468 And The Pursuit Of Happiness Maira Kalman 2010 American English
14359 Why We're Polarized Ezra Klein 2020 American English
14649 The Myth Of The Strong Leader Archie Brown 2014 British English
14830 Identity Francis Fukuyama 2018 American English
14896 The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution Bernard Bailyn 1967 American English
14983 Adults in the Room Yanis Varoufakis 2017 Greek English
14983 The Battle For Spain Antony Beevor 2006 British English
15897 The Shame Of The Cities Lincoln Steffens 1904 American English
15897 In Defence Of Politics Bernard Crick 1962 British English
17117 Walter Lippmann and the American Century Ronald Steel 1980 American English
17117 The People's Choice Herbert Agar 1933 American English
17117 The Disruption of American Democracy Roy Franklin Nichols 1948 American English
17117 Parliament of Whores P. J. O'Rourke 1991 American English
17117 How Democracies Perish Jean François Revel 1983 French French
17117 How Democracies Die Steven Levitsky 2018 American English
17117 Twilight Of Democracy Anne Applebaum 2020 American English