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H. L. Mencken
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Notes on Democracy Kindle Edition

by H. L. Mencken (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 108 ratings
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The renowned satirist and author of The American Language presents a scathing critique of democracy, demagogues, and politicians of all kinds.

H. L. Mencken was one of the greatest contrarian minds of the twentieth century. As a columnist for the Baltimore Sun, he was an outspoken skeptic of America’s most cherished institutions—namely, organized religion and representative democracy.

In Notes on Democracy, Mencken presents an incisive critique of how democratic ideals are doomed to fall short in practice. From disproportional representation to rampant political corruption, Mencken’s assessments—first published in 1926—are surprisingly applicable today.
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  1. Print length
    132 pages
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    Open Road Media
  5. Publication date
    January 1, 2022
  6. File size
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[A] tremendous polemic...[which] destroy[s] by rendering it ridiculous and unfashionable, the democratic tradition of the American pioneers."

-- "Saturday Review of Literature (1926)"

About the Author

H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) was America's greatest journalist and iconoclast. With his bristling, cynical humor, he mercilessly attacked war hysteria, jingoism, and censorship. He championed uniquely American writing, helping to free the nation s literature of its Anglophile fixation. Mencken covered many of the great stories of the 20th century s first half, including the Scopes Monkey trial and Prohibition.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09PJ9M81Q
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media (January 1, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 1, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1836 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 132 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 108 ratings

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H. L. Mencken

H. L. Mencken

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
108 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Clearpoint
5.0 out of 5 stars A true pleasure to read...
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2015
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A true pleasure to read. Mencken writes in a style that combines the insightful analysis of an Alexis de Tocqueville (Democracy in America) with the biting and sarcastic observations of standup comedian George Carlin at his best. This book is both entertaining and insightful, a claim that few books ever written can make. If you like Mencken, this is a must read. If you're not familiar with Mencken, this is the best place to start.
3 people found this helpful
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AlW
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2023
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Mencken’s analysis from the 1920s right on target in the 2020s.
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Eric Mayforth
4.0 out of 5 stars The Sage of Baltimore on Democracy
Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2012
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For most of the first half of the twentieth century, H.L. Mencken was one of this country's foremost social commentators. He contributed to The Baltimore Sun for decades and also wrote numerous books, including his 1926 tome "Notes on Democracy." Whether or not you agree with Mencken on every issue or even most issues, the book is still a valuable read eighty-six years later, and this edition contains good endnotes to bring modern readers up to speed on topics mentioned in the book that would in most cases not be familiar to us today.

Mencken on many issues was what we refer to today as a libertarian or nineteenth-century liberal--he valued liberty and believed "that any invasion of it is immensely dangerous to the commonweal--especially when that invasion is alleged to have a moral purpose." Inherent, though, in freedom is the freedom to fail, and Mencken understood that most of his countrymen disagreed with him on the value of liberty--he thought that the average person valued security over liberty, was apt to see himself as a member of a group instead of seeing himself as an individual, and was "quite willing to exchange any of the boons of freedom for something he can use."

Whether or not the author agrees, democracy is the best form of governance yet invented, though like all earthly institutions it is not perfect. Mencken notes the pandering even in his day that politicians had to do to stay in office.

And in a democracy in any era, there will be poorly informed voters--to name perhaps the most pernicious myth extant in our era, think of the vast number of souls out there who think that our entitlements do not need to be reformed and that they could easily be shored up if we just taxed the rich more. Others simply lack the wisdom to know who would be a good elected official--Mencken made fun of the voters in the 1920 election who voted against the Democratic ticket because Cox was divorced and Wilson married "too soon" after the death of his first wife. One could draw a straight line to modern voters who were swayed because a candidate forcefully kissed his wife on the platform at his nominating convention or because a prospective candidate had a perfect crease on his pant leg.

As we enter another fall campaign, though, we have the opportunity to change course and should remember Mencken's observation that the people really are sovereign and really can get what they want at the ballot box if they want it badly enough. Let's hope that in 2012 people realize we have gone (much, much) too far in the direction of security at the expense of liberty, recall that Benjamin Franklin thought that excessive public debt was the chief threat to our keeping our republic, and vote for those who understand that economic liberty is indispensable to long-term prosperity and thus indispensable to military strength.
7 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Assails Democracy's Golden Cows
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2018
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Reminiscent of Twain or modern day comedians like George Carlin, H.L. Mencken states outright his own pessimism about human nature in general, and disappointment with the status of the human condition.
Nevertheless, he feels it is his duty as a man of intellectual integrity to critique democracy in its own terms: it's defense of liberty and it's ability to EFFECTIVELY impose morality on it's own citizens.
Mencken was active during the prohibition era and the Scopes trial, to extremely plain failures of government to impose "Puritan" morality on the masses, and making a circus of it meanwhile.

This is why Mencken says that democracy is "the art of governing the circus form the monkey cage." This is something he genuinely believes, but as a social critic, enjoys as a source of material.
5 people found this helpful
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C#
3.0 out of 5 stars Keen Insights Mixed with Garbage
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2013
- Why I Read This Book

The Mises Institute was selling this for $1. I have of late been questioning whether a democratic republic is a viable governmental form. And given the deplorable state of our own republic, I thought it was worth a read.

- Positives

At his best, Mencken is extremely erudite and informed of the politics at his time. At times, he is very insightful and scathingly humorous.

His central thesis is that it is stupid to think that everyone is equal and deserves an equal say in how laws should be drafted - and I cannot disagree. As he puts it in the first paragraph, democracy proposes that, "What has baffled statesmen is to be solved by the people, instantly and by a seraphic intuition."

The endnotes to this volume are extensive and would make this work accessible even to an adolescent.

- Negatives

Regretfully, Mencken's intelligence and wit have led him to pride, which had led to his liberal elitism. As another reader has noted, his constant attacks on his "inferiors" - basically caricatures of city- and country- dwellers - is tiresome. Among his other errors is his admiration for Freud, Nietzsche, and even the eugenicist Thomas Huxley. (An endnote amazingly tells us that "Mencken credited Huxley for giving order to his ideas and being a major influence on his writings".) As a relatively minor point, he believes that vaccines are healthy - and seemingly believes in forced vaccinations - while he has a bizarre hatred of osteopathy and chiropractic.

His greatest errors are those against the Faith - in particular his denunciations of St. Paul, which nearly made me put down the book.

- Final Thoughts

If you are looking to Mencken for a libertarian or conservative critique of democracy, look elsewhere. Mencken is the consummate liberal: elitist, self-satisfied, totalitarian, fearful of the country, anti-Christian, and snarky - in fact, in his last chapter, he reveals to us that he actually likes democracy, because it gives him something to mock.

However, his main points are worth considering, especially for those who believe that democracy is the greatest form of government. If you choose to read this book, I would suggest skipping all of the chapters except the first in part I: this will help you to avoid much of the tiresome elitism and anti-Christianity.

Interestingly, Mencken is depicted in *Inherit the Wind*, the play about the Scopes trial (which he covered). In that play, he is criticized somewhat harshly, but now that I have read the book, I realize that he was not criticized harshly enough.

I am currently reading  Liberty, the God That Failed: Policing the Sacred and Constructing the Myths of the Secular State, from Locke to Obama , which is a critique of democracy from a more Catholic perspective.
5 people found this helpful
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Steven R. Wallace
5.0 out of 5 stars A very important work
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2019
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Mencken cast a significantly critical eye upon the system we call a democracy, and what he has to say about it is perhaps even more relevant today than when he wrote it. Highly recommended piece of writing.
3 people found this helpful
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Rothbard
5.0 out of 5 stars Mencken was a genius and funny too.
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2020
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For anyone who can HANDLE the truth, that government and politicians often dont have your best interests at heart , this book is a must. Witty, funny , written in an engaging masterful prose. Make sure you have a dictionary on hand
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Top reviews from other countries

Frank R. Morris
4.0 out of 5 stars Mencken is as relevant today as he has ever been
Reviewed in Canada on January 17, 2022
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Fabulous read. Superbly written. Takes dead aim at democracy, politicians and what passes for citizenry. Spoiler alert: nothin has changed since his day.
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Jordan
5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous
Reviewed in France on February 2, 2022
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One of the best books one can read, in a large and nice edition
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rgkd52
5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the do gooders, dreamers, utopians of this world
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 13, 2017
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A great take down of party politics everywhere
No holds barred, provocative, laugh out loud account of man's gullibility and stupidities
Highly relevant in todays PC times
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