{"product_id":"demagogues-and-despots","title":"Demagogues and Despots","description":"\u003cp\u003ePublisher's description:\u003cbr\u003eDemocracy and despotism live closer together than you’d expect. Acclaimed political thinker John Keane reveals why that should alarm us all.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWe live in troubled times, marked by a sinister trend gaining the upper hand everywhere: the triumph of despotism not only in countries like Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, but also in states run by popularly elected demagogues – Orbán and Erdoğan, Netanyahu and Trump.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eJohn Keane shows why this new despotism defies the laws of political gravity. Instead of relying on fear or raw force, it fosters a strange, pseudo-democratic type of government, led by rulers skilled in winning public loyalty through government handouts, election-rigging, legal trickery, weaponised lying and talk of enemies. And, alarmingly, these leaders hunt in packs.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat’s so good about democracy? Keane explains that it’s much more than popular self-government based on free and fair elections. Democracy is a collective insistence that unaccountable power is always dangerous – and that it’s the best way to stop demagogues and despots from ruining life on our planet.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAuthor: John Keane\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003ePublisher: NewSouth Publishing\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eFormat: Paperback\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003ePages: 224\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003ePublished: 1 May 2026\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eISBN: 9781761170881\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Shop at Old Parliament House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52486705873207,"sku":"9781761170881","price":33.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0839\/9559\/0967\/files\/File-6975_medium_a2ad38dd-a230-4c9e-9dde-0ada2775b19c.png?v=1781668602","url":"https:\/\/shop.moadoph.gov.au\/products\/demagogues-and-despots","provider":"The Shop at Old Parliament House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}