Demagogues and Despots

Democracies on the brink

By: John Keane

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Paperback | 1 May 2026

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Democracy and despotism live closer together than you’d expect. Acclaimed political thinker John Keane reveals why that should alarm us all.

We 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 – Orban and Erdogan, Netanyahu and Trump.

John 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.

What’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.

About the Author

John Keane is Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney and is renowned globally for his creative thinking about politics, history, media and democracy. His books include The Shortest History of Democracy, The Life and Death of Democracy, the bestselling Tom Paine: A political life, and the acclaimed biography Vaclav Havel.

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