A narrative chronicle of Israeli democracy that defines historic phases and follows thematic challenges to democracy, including: competition between religion and the rule of law; the statist society and chaotic minoritocracy; modern illiberal populism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The comprehensive portrait exposes endemic flaws of democracy in Israel, but also shows that Israel has considerable capacity - and responsibility - to fulfill the promise of democracy.

Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin is a political scientist, a public opinion expert and a political consultant. She has advised nine national election campaigns in Israel since 1999, and has worked in fifteen other countries as well. In Israel, her research focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, foreign policy, democracy, human rights and civil rights, political analysis, and comparative conflict analysis. Dr. Scheindlin has regional expertise in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, post-conflict societies and transitional democracies. She holds a PhD from Tel Aviv University; she is a policy fellow atThe Century Foundation, a regular columnist atHaaretz (English), and a foreign affairs analyst on the BBC television program,Context; she is among the founders of+972 Magazine and has co-hosted several podcasts including theTel Aviv Review of Books andElection Overdose. She lives in Tel Aviv.