The Conspiracy to End America

Five Ways My Old Party Is Driving Our Democracy to Autocracy

By: Stuart Stevens

Narrated by: Jeff Bottoms

“This is the first must-read of the 2024 election cycle if you want to understand the stakes.” –Nicole Wallace

A former chief Republican strategist and bestselling author of It Was All a Lie offers an ominous warning that the G.O.P. is dragging our country towards autocracy, and if we don’t wake up to the crisis in our system, 2024 may well be our last free and fair election.

Today’s Republican party is not a “normal” political party in the American tradition. It has become an autocratic movement masquerading as a political party. As Stuart Stevens argues in The Conspiracy to End America, if we look away from that truth, we greatly increase the likelihood that the America we love will slip away, never to return.

Whenever a democracy slides into autocracy, there are five critical elements at work: financers, propagandists, party support, legal theories to legitimize, and shock troops. The Conspiracy to End America examines each of these driving forces on the Right and makes clear how they are working in concert to end our democracy as we know it.

In the tradition of It Can’t Happen Here and On Tyranny, The Conspiracy to End America is a blinking red distress call about the dark intentions lurking within Stevens’ old party and a rallying cry to beat back this perilous threat and save the Republic.

©2023 Stuart Stevens (P)2023 Twelve

Critic reviews

“Republican campaign legend Stuart Stevens used his skills to battle Trump as candidate and president. Now Trump is back—and so is Stevens, with this anguished and eloquent summons to stand for democracy against reactionary authoritarianism at home and abroad.” (David Frum, senior editor at The Atlantic and MSNBC contributor)

“In THE CONSPIRACY TO END AMERICA, Stuart Stevens uses his decades of working within the Republican Party to lay out in brutally honest terms how his old party is turning America into an autocracy. Every person—Democrat, Republican, and Independent—concerned about the rise of Trumpism should read this book.” (Dan Pfeiffer, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Yes We (Still) Can: Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump)

“As a former Republican strategist and media consultant, [Stevens] knows the threat we face today from the Republican Party, which has embraced autocracy and works to damage our democracy beyond repair. His timely and heartfelt book lays out the essential elements and enablers of authoritarianism with admirable clarity. It’s essential and timely reading.” (Ruth Ben-Giat, MSNBC Opinion Columnist and author of Strongmen: From Mussolini to the Present)

Every American should read this book, mostly Republicans.

As a lifelong Republican, Stuart is hitting the nail on the head. A must read for any never Trumper’s. A must read for anyone that really wants to have a democratic form of government in America. This thread is serious and real.

Knowledge, understanding, insight, authenticity!

I thought this book on what is going on with Trump and the Republican party. I found the book very informative, truthful, and essential to understand what is happening to our democracy. I respect the author Stewart Stevens and have been following him for years
Must listen to this.

Concise case against Trump and authoritarian GOP

great collection of facts and history by an important GOP strategist who left party as a result of the GOP losing its principles. Concisely details the steps by which the GOP gave up on governing or crafting policies to help most citizens in favor of seizing raw power and rewarding the donor class.
By far the briefest, yet most powerful argument against the modern GOP and how it's transmogrified into something so different than it used to be when he was an insider.
I've read many books about the danger of Trump and this is the most to the point.
really excellent!

Democracy is almost dead

The only hope to buy more time for our democracy will be republicans votes for democrats at all levels in November 2024.

The end of US democracy

Scary, confessional, autobiographical description of America slowly twisting in the wind of autocracy. Does not invoke fear as much as motivation to act. Voting as democratic action. As a better defiance than guns or conspiracy beliefs. Germany in the early 1930’s, Hungry under Orban. Russia under Putin, China under Xi. America under Republicans.

Sane and Sensible

So sane and sensible. Well written and well read. Gives me hope that democracy will survive and perhaps even prosper if more lifelong, diehard Republicans like Stuart Stevens take the same honest and courageous look at what the Grand Old Party has become in the era of Trump.

Please read this book

The best book I have read on the very real threat to our democracy. Sometimes it feels so much easier to ignore politics, and the condition of our democracy, but we do so at our own peril. Every voting American needs to read this book and take it seriously. I know that I have often assumed that our country would always be a land of freedom and justice for all, but the very core of our democracy, our Constitution, and the rule of law is being severely attacked. We simply cannot ignore this reality. Please read this book.

Please read /listen to this book!

Chapter 4&5 describes the reality of the Republicans embrace of Authoritarianism versus what I used to think of as surrender to Authoritarianism. I now understand that Authoritarianism is actually their pursuit after surrendering their morals.
We must, each and every citizen vote out every single republican MAGA person from top to bottom if we have any hope to save our country and world from this insanity!

History is our greatest lesson!

I liked the historical perspective offered by the author! I think there is a serious undercurrent in America that is very troubling!
A batter between democracy for all and those who want total control!

Required Reading

Author Stuart Stevens offers a compelling, easy to read diagnosis of our current national political landscape, especially that of the Grand Old Party. Trump’s GOP is not Lincoln’s party. It’s now an anti-democratic, pro-authoritarian party which seeks to rule the country like autocrats in Hungary, the Philippines, India, and Brazil (under Bolsonaro).