How do democracies die? How do functioning civil societies slide toward populist demagoguery, perhaps even rotting into authoritarian quagmires of ill-will and spectacular ignorance? In Rhetoric and Democracy in a Post-Truth Era, Joshua J. Frye and Steven R. Goldzwig answer these questions by focusing on post-truth communication, the production of polarization, the abuse of social media platforms, and the rise of rightwing populism. By tracking what they call “the almost invisible lines connecting reason, speech, and action to truth, trust, and virtue,” and by diagnosing how Trump-era charlatans have shredded that delicate fabric, Frye and Goldzwig offer readers a roadmap for reclaiming democracy.

Stephen J. Hartnett, University of Colorado Denver

A trenchant, impassioned, and deeply unsettling examination of what ails American democracy. Impeccably researched, Frye and Goldzwig offer the most comprehensive account of the matrix of vicious communication loops that both enable and constitute Trumpism and the virtuous loops that must be its antidote.

Randall A. Lake, University of Southern California