La Revancha de Los Poderosos / The Revenge of Power

Un libro para entender c?mo se obtiene, se usa, se abusa y se pierde el poder en el siglo XXI.

En todo el mundo, las democracias se enfrentan a un enemigo nuevo e implacable que no tiene ej?rcito ni armada; no procede de ning?n pa?s que podamos se?alar en un mapa, porque no viene de ah? fuera, sino de aqu? dentro. En lugar de desafiar a las sociedades libres con la destrucci?n desde el exterior, amenaza con corroerlas desde el interior. Un peligro como este es esquivo, dif?cil de identificar, de distinguir, de describir. Todos lo notamos, pero nos cuesta darle nombre. Se derraman r?os de tinta para definir sus elementos y caracter?sticas, pero se nos sigue escapando. Nuestro deber, por tanto, es nombrarlo para as? comprenderlo, combatirlo y derrotarlo. Qu? es este nuevo enemigo que atenta contra nuestra libertad, nuestra prosperidad y hasta nuestra supervivencia como sociedades democr?ticas? La respuesta es el poder, en una forma nueva y maligna. En todas las ?pocas ha habido una o m?s formas de maldad pol?tica; la que estamos viviendo hoy es una variante vengativa que imita la democracia al tiempo que la socava y desprecia cualquier limitaci?n. Parece que el poder haya estudiado todos los controles concebidos por las sociedades libres durante siglos para eludirlos y, despu?s, contraatacar. Por eso puedo afirmar que estamos ante la revancha de los poderosos. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Mois?s Na?m's The Revenge of Power is an urgent, thrilling, and original look at the future of democracy. It illuminates one of the most important battles of our time: the future of freedom and how to contain and defeat the autocrats mushrooming around the world. In his New York Times best-selling book The End of Power, Mois?s Na?m examined power-diluting forces. In The Revenge of Power, Na?m turns to the trends, conditions, and behaviors that are contributing to the concentration of power, and to the clash between those forces that weaken power and those that strengthen it. He concentrates on the three "P"s - populism, polarization, and post-truths. All of which are as old as time, but are combined by today's autocrats to undermine democratic life in new and frightening ways. Power has not changed. But the way people go about gaining it and using it has been transformed. The Revenge of Power connects the dots between global events and political tactics that, when taken together, show a profound and often stealthy transformation in power and politics worldwide. Using the best available data and insights taken from recent research in the social sciences, Na?m reveals how, on close examination, the same set of strategies to consolidate power pop up again and again in places with vastly different political, economic, and social circumstances, and offers insights about what can be done to ensure that freedom and democracy prevail. The outcomes of these battles for power will determine if our future will be more autocratic or more democratic. These outcomes will, in turn, depend on the capacity of our democracies to survive the attacks and dirty tricks of autocratic leaders bent on weakening the checks and balances that limit their power. Na?m addresses the questions at the heart of the matter: What are, in practice, those attacks and tricks? Why is power concentrating in some places while in others it is fragmenting and degrading? And the big question: What is the future of freedom?