Kakistocracy: Why Populism Ends in Disaster

Recovering academic, repentant Trump voter, and widely discussed public intellectual Richard Hanania looks at what happens when the most unethical and least competent people are given power and control the levers of government. Most elections are between conservatives and liberals, and most voters assume they are choosing between who will govern more effectively. But when it becomes populists versus institutionalists, there arises the danger of our political system elevating the least honest, reliable, and knowledgeable people.

Putting the Trump administration's ignorant flailing into a global and historical perspective, Kakistocracy shows democracies increasingly suffer from a tangle of inefficiency, interest-group domination, and incompetence. If unchecked, Richard Hanania argues, this will lead to systemic dysfunction in areas critical to public life, including housing, energy, health, disaster response, economics, and basic governance. He warns that this trajectory carries the potential for semi-authoritarianism, corruption, and societal stagnation.

Kakistocracy confronts the failures of the Trump-era GOP, revealing the ways scams, institutional erosion, and corruption are inevitable. It also shows why similar movements are on the rise around the world, and discusses the academic literature on how we know that populism usually ends in disaster. For those in either party willing to face hard truths and challenge the narratives we've grown too comfortable with, this is where the reckoning begins.

© 2026 Broadside Books (Audiobook): 9780063480018

Release date

Audiobook: 7 July 2026