This recording features a lecture by Erik Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, presented by the Commonwealth Club of California on the 29th of November, 1968. In his talk, Kuehnelt-Leddihn posits that the United States, originally an Aristocratic Republic, has been transitioning to a Democracy since 1820.
Erik Maria Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, an Austrian-American noble and intellectual, had a vast range of scholarly interests encompassing philosophy, history, political science, economics, linguistics, art, and theology. A staunch critic of the French Revolution, Communism, and National Socialism, he notably challenged the Wilsonian perspective of American foreign policy.
A proclaimed monarchist and adversary to all forms of totalitarianism, Kuehnelt-Leddihn nonetheless voiced support for certain "non-democratic republics" such as Switzerland and the early version of the United States. His democratic skepticism was informed by thinkers like the U.S. Founding Fathers, Tocqueville, Burckhardt, and Montalembert.
Why Democracy Fails In Europe