Summary of Moisés Naím's The Revenge of Power

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 Autocrats are political leaders who reach power through a fairly democratic election, and then set out to dismantle the checks on executive power through populism, polarization, and post-truth.

#2 The second strategy used to gain and keep power is polarization. Relentlessly demonizing opponents and portraying wedge issues that divide the nation are the divisive tactics that often yield great results.

#3 Polarization eliminates the possibility of a middle ground, pushing every single person and organization to take sides. In our age, it is facilitated by the dynamics of fandom and identity.

#4 The 3P framework is a system for taking, wielding, and maintaining unlimited power in a world that doesn’t recognize that kind of power as legitimate. It solves that problem by faking fealty to the liberal consensus, all the while eating away at it from the inside.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669359517

IRB Media

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Insights on Moisés Naím's The Revenge of Power

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Autocrats are political leaders who reach power through a fairly democratic election, and then set out to dismantle the checks on executive power through populism, polarization, and post-truth.

#2

The second strategy used to gain and keep power is polarization. Relentlessly demonizing opponents and portraying wedge issues that divide the nation are the divisive tactics that often yield great results.

#3

Polarization eliminates the possibility of a middle ground, pushing every single person and organization to take sides. In our age, it is facilitated by the dynamics of fandom and identity.

#4

The 3P framework is a system for taking, wielding, and maintaining unlimited power in a world that doesn’t recognize that kind of power as legitimate. It solves that problem by faking fealty to the liberal consensus, all the while eating away at it from the inside.

#5

The need for this new technology for aspiring autocrats arose only recently, in the twenty-first century. In the twentieth century, dictators did not need to hide their dominance over the political sphere. They could wield it openly through force of arms or by offering fealty to one of the dominant superpowers.

#6

3P power is a reaction to the fragmentation and degradation of traditional forms of power. It is a way for those determined to wield power without limits to adapt to a world where the power of incumbents is under constant challenge and where tenures are rare.

#7

3P power is a form of autocracy that hides in the background until it is no longer necessary to hide. It then strikes, and by the time it sets aside the cloak of stealth, it’s often too late.

#8

The revenge of power is when leaders attempt to dismantle existing checks and balances to consolidate power. This can be seen in Poland, India, Bolivia, and the United States, which all have leaders attempting to unseat their respective Supreme Courts.

#9

3P autocrats around the world have developed a common set of strategies and tactics to reconstitute absolute power in a moment that is hostile to it. They bend the institutions of the state to their will.

#10

The most basic problem in designing a government that truly answers to the people it governs is so old it’s best known in its Latin form: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes. Who will