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Nov 15, 2018gloryb rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This book answered my questions about the methods rulers of countries use to acquire power and hold on to it. She summarizes these steps in several chapters using examples from current governments with autocratic rulers or those leaning towards fascism. Her prime examples are, of course, Hitler and Mussolini and the methods they used to gain power and then to hold on to it. She sees a commonality of steps taken by these rulers such as their ability to change the country's constitution in order to give them more rights; their ability to control the country's judiciary; their ability to suppress/falsify the publication of news; their need to slander political opponents; and their ability to convince their public that only they are working for its interests - usually on nationalistic themes; their lack of concern for the rights of others. She contends that politicians who have fascist leanings learn from the successes of fascists in other countries and copy those same methods in their own country. She ends with a chapter on the present administration in the US in which she sees a parallel of action to those used by fascist politicians. The last pages list questions that her readers can use to judge if a political candidate is for democracy or a threat to it. The book has Notes and an index.