--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Given the right conditions, any society…" description: "\"Given the right conditions, any society can turn against democracy. Indeed, if history is anything to go by, all societies eventually will.\" — Anne App..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/193/anne-applebaum-2544_democracy_given-the-right-conditions-any-society-c_1238534.png" --- # Given the right conditions, any society can turn against… ![“Given the right conditions, any society can turn against democracy. Indeed, if history is anything to go by, all societies eventually will.” quote by Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/193/anne-applebaum-2544_democracy_given-the-right-conditions-any-society-c_1238534.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/193/anne-applebaum-2544_democracy_given-the-right-conditions-any-society-c_1238534.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/193/anne-applebaum-2544_democracy_given-the-right-conditions-any-society-c_1238534.png) > “Given the right conditions, any society can turn against democracy. Indeed, if history is anything to go by, all societies eventually will.” [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Societies can become anti‑democratic under certain conditions, as history shows. **In simple terms:** Societies may turn against democracy over time. Key Takeaway Guard democratic institutions against erosion. Themes politics democracy history Mood cautionary analytical Type political historical When to use this quote - elections - media regulation - civic education Key Concepts Authoritarianism social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards protect democracy? - How do crises affect political stability? A Different Perspective Economic crises can accelerate democratic decline. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Societies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/societies/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) ## Related quotes > [Given the right conditions any society can turn against democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/given-the-right-conditions-any-society-can-turn-against-democracy-2/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [All democratic societies eventually decide what is in favor of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakesh-jhunjhunwala/all-democratic-societies-eventually-decide-what-is-in-favor-of-them/) [Rakesh Jhunjhunwala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakesh-jhunjhunwala/) > [Our democracy's history is littered with names we neither remember nor celebrate - people who stood in the way of progress while protecting the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-giffords/our-democracy-s-history-is-littered-with-names-we-neither-remember/) [Gabrielle Giffords](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-giffords/) > [I am a Mexican. The United States lived seventy-five years with the one party system in Mexico - the PRI - without batting an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/i-am-a-mexican-the-united-states-lived-seventy-five-years-with-the/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [“And that is the terrible myth of organized society, that everything that's done through the established system is legal -- and that word has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-m-kunstler/and-that-is-the-terrible-myth-of-organized-society-that-everything/) William M. Kunstler > [“Never allow society to turn you into a person you are not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziad-k-abdelnour/never-allow-society-to-turn-you-into-a-person-you-are-not/) [Ziad K. Abdelnour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziad-k-abdelnour/) > [“For they amount to this: that if we are to produce a society of educated people, fitted to preserve their intellectual freedom amid the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/for-they-amount-to-this-that-if-we-are-to-produce-a-society-of/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [“Never let society to turn you into a grain of sand on the beach! Be different, be individual! Refuse to look alike with others!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/never-let-society-to-turn-you-into-a-grain-of-sand-on-the-beach-be/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Homer, Hesiod, Pythagoras, Plato, and Cicero, just to name a few, all lived in pagan societies. 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Those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/after-trump-became-president-it-was-really-too-late-to-investigate/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [If Reagan and John Paul II were linked by anything, it was a grand, ambitious, and generous idea of Western political civilization, one in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/if-reagan-and-john-paul-ii-were-linked-by-anything-it-was-a-grand/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [Until the attack on Pearl Harbor, isolationism was an important, even dominant strand in U.S. politics. After the Second World War, this strand disappeared,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/until-the-attack-on-pearl-harbor-isolationism-was-an-important-even/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [The U.S.S.R. was a totalitarian state in which judges and prosecutors were controlled by the ruling party. 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Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [There are certain things you must not say in spite of the fact that supposedly democracy means free speech. No. You are not allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-eubank-sr/there-are-certain-things-you-must-not-say-in-spite-of-the-fact-that/) [Chris Eubank Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-eubank-sr/) > [“All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or back gammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/all-voting-is-a-sort-of-gaming-like-checkers-or-back-gammon-with-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) [Browse all 11,220 Democracy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Given the right conditions, any society can turn against democracy. 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