Post-Truth American Politics: False Stories and Current Crises

David Ricci has written two books on 'political stories,' providing the foundations for Post-Truth Democracy. Yet the present book is arguably the most important yet. The author writes that we need stories to make our way in the world. But many stories, say from identity politics, are necessarily false because they are simplifications of some larger reality. However, not all stories are equally false or equally harmful. Some lead to bad outcomes, and it is the responsibility of scholars to counter harmful stories with other stories leading to better outcomes. Therefore, stories are an especially potent form of political power, deserving of scholarly and journalistic attention.