Agent Orange

Since Donald Trump was elected president of the United States in 2016, numerous authors have observed the decline of democratic values in countries around the world. Anne Applebaum in Twilight of Democracy, Timothy Snyder in The Road to Unfreedom, Robert Kagan in Rebellion, and others have advanced their own specific angles on the topic, but they’ve generally acknowledged a proliferation of disinformation and the rise of authoritarian tendencies. And they’ve agreed that democracies are facing threats not seen since the end of the Cold War. Now the award-winning historian Ken McGoogan adds to the discussion with Shadows of Tyranny.

McGoogan has written many books, mostly non-fiction works about Arctic exploration and the influence of Scottish culture in Canada. His latest, therefore, represents a notable shift in subject. McGoogan is deeply concerned about the impact Trump has had on American democracy, though he’s less concerned about Trump the individual and more worried about “Trumpism,” the legacy and influence the man will continue to have on the Republican Party — and us — for years to come: “In today’s world of climate catastrophes and ruthless autocrats, is it paranoid to suggest that some Future Trump, whoever he may be, will look north and cast a rapacious eye over Canada’s abundant water and other natural resources?” McGoogan then explains that Canada should care about the rise of authoritarianism in the United States for the same reason France should have worried about the rise of fascism in Germany in the 1930s.

Shadows of Tyranny is primarily focused on the dictatorships of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin rather than on current events. “The narrative of this book celebrates those people who refused, rejected, and opposed — those who resisted,” McGoogan writes in his introduction. He then recounts the experiences of ordinary individuals who confronted the surge of fascism in the early twentieth century, “in the hope that a generation of equally courageous people will step forward in the days ahead should the need arise.”

McGoogan tells the stories of writers who tried to warn their readers of the threat posed by authoritarianism, as well as accounts of people who volunteered to help the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War and of French citizens who resisted the Nazi occupation. He also includes the experiences of those who chose to ignore the threats or collaborated with the Nazis. This compelling array of personalities includes many who are not widely known.

Unfortunately, despite McGoogan’s extensive research, the book’s structure is frustratingly fragmented. In a chapter about Martha Gellhorn, for example, McGoogan relates the American journalist’s early life, her travels, and her efforts to get a job as an overseas correspondent. But as Gellhorn boards a ship to Spain to write about the Spanish Civil War, McGoogan interrupts her story right when it’s getting interesting and doesn’t pick it up again for several chapters. The anticlimax is a persistent problem throughout, as the author breaks off the action just as it’s becoming exciting, thus disrupting the reader’s engagement.

It doesn’t help that the various episodes in Shadows of Tyranny are not arranged in any kind of coherent order. In an otherwise absorbing chapter about the rise of Stalin, for instance, the narrative shifts to the Soviet leader’s concerns about the war in Spain and his attempts to influence the outcome in favour of the Republicans. The chapter concludes: “On occasion, Russian agents arrested and executed left-leaning allies who failed to support the Communist Party with sufficient enthusiasm. This included leaders of the Workers’ Party (POUM), which welcomed an obscure English writer who arrived to join the fight: George Orwell.” After such an awkward yet definitive introduction of Orwell, the next chapter might reasonably be expected to focus on the author of 1984. Not so. The subsequent pages instead detail the tumultuous marriage between the writers Dorothy Thompson and Sinclair Lewis, leaving readers puzzled and wondering if they missed something. (Orwell finally reappears a chapter later.)

While the subject matter of Shadows of Tyranny is fascinating and timely, the presentation is disjointed. Readers who are perplexed or exasperated by the book’s organization may well turn away — and miss out on the urgent lessons McGoogan has to offer.

The journalist Jonathan Manthorpe has written two previous books about democratic issues in Canada and the world. The Claws of the Panda, first published in 2019 and updated earlier this year, describes the Chinese government’s campaign of disinformation and coercion against Canada; Restoring Democracy in an Age of Populists and Pestilence, from 2020, tracks the decline of democracy and the rise of populist politics elsewhere. He opens his latest, On Canadian Democracy, by comparing the prime minister’s official residence in Ottawa to the current state of our governing institutions. “The building always was a symbol of a long-gone age and an imported culture,” he writes. “It hasn’t represented the reality of contemporary Canada for a long time.” But, especially over the past few decades, 24 Sussex Drive has suffered from serious neglect, as successive Liberal and Conservative governments, fearing backlash from voters, have ducked the necessary maintenance. Consequently, the house is in a state of disrepair so dire as to make it uninhabitable.

Manthorpe believes Canadian democracy is “fast approaching the same fate, and for similar reasons.” Canada is not broken, Manthorpe concedes — at least, not yet. “It is not beyond repair. But it requires serious repair.” What follows is Manthorpe’s “depreciation report,” enumerating aspects of society that he believes are in trouble. “My argument here is that we are not paying enough attention to the way our political, economic, and social institutions are degrading. An added threat is that this comes at a time when democracies world-wide are under assault from authoritarian instincts from within and without.” On Canadian Democracy is above all an appeal for earnest and careful reform in most aspects of public life.

Manthorpe is effective at detailing several problems in government. He also contributes a thoughtful examination of the challenges afflicting the economy, from unaffordable housing to stagnating productivity. But the book feels uneven and incomplete, because the implications of such challenges are not fully discussed. Consider this claim: “The powers Canadians give to their prime ministers are so many, varied, and beyond accountability that it is immediately understandable why political analysts have used phrases such as ‘imperial democracy’ and ‘friendly dictatorship’ to describe the reality of the Canadian system.” Manthorpe’s main concern about the influence of the prime minister centres on his or her unilateral authority to appoint the governor general, justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, and key senior bureaucrats. But Manthorpe never explains the ramifications of this power. Nor does he provide cases that illustrate when this authority has led to serious consequences. He takes the problem of the prime minister’s power as a given without detailing any real-world outcomes. This lack of analysis of the implications he raises is a recurring flaw.

When Manthorpe does attempt to unpack the consequences of a problem, the evidence he presents can confuse rather than clarify. For example, he expresses concern that Supreme Court justices wield excessive power with minimal accountability. He offers two case studies to demonstrate the tangible impact of judicial overreach. In one, the court ruled the government of New Brunswick had cancelled French immersion programs without proper debate: “The court’s decision was based not on legal precedents, but simply on how the province managed the affair.” In the other, the court ruled the government of British Columbia had a duty to provide suitable educational programming for children with special needs. In both cases, Manthorpe argues, the Supreme Court undermined democracy by intruding on the jurisdiction of elected representatives. But at least in the latter example, by directing the province to provide appropriate curriculum for children with special needs, wasn’t the Supreme Court in fact acting as a valuable check on parliamentary power and protecting the rights of vulnerable Canadians? Wouldn’t such oversight make Canada more democratic, not less?

Nevertheless, On Canadian Democracy makes a host of shrewd and important points. In returning to the analogy of the house in disrepair in his final chapter, Manthorpe says there are “two load-carrying beams in the structure” that need urgent attention. The first is “the need to revive Canadians’ trust in the political system,” and the second is the economy, which “needs serious remodelling.” If we fail to address these two major issues, “Canada will fall prey to glib demagogues and populists who stir up the population’s anger and anxieties to feed their own ambitions for power. That is the road that leads first to the end of a tolerant society and then on to some form of authoritarianism.” To avoid this fate, we must demand better of our politicians and institutions. “The time for being polite about our predicament is long passed. The time for a true reform movement is now.”