Felix Brandt
Democracy rarely dies in a blaze; it is unpicked by people who believe they are voting for order. This book’s distinctive claim is that the path from failed artist to Führer can be understood as an engineering problem-how myth, media, crisis, and law were assembled into a working machine for manufacturing consent and dismantling checks from within. It interrogates unsettling dilemmas: Why do reasonable voters back unreasonable regimes? How does propaganda convert fear into obedience? When does legality become violence in slow motion? Drawing on political psychology, social history, media studies, institutional design, and moral philosophy, it treats Weimar as a live laboratory rather than a mausoleum. The book blends archival caselets, close readings of speeches, campaign logistics, policy memos, and 'red-flag' diagnostics for readers-short reflection prompts and checklists that translate analysis into pattern recognition. By the end, readers gain a clear mental model-the Five Switches (Myth, Enemy, Emergency, Machine, Legalism)-and a disciplined habit for spotting lawful illegality early, interpreting it without melodrama, and acting before it hardens.- The Consent Machine - How Propaganda, Crisis, and Lawful Illegality End Democracies- Voting for Order - Why People Choose Strongmen and Unmake the Republic- The Autocrat’s Method - Inside the Engineering of Hitler’s Rise.
