Levitsky and Ziblatt emphasize that it’s impossible to impose democracy on a society all at once. Instead, democratization is always a gradual process—after all, it requires buy-in from as much of the population as possible. Therefore, pro-democracy forces can’t restore democracy simply by gaining power. But they
can start restoring democracy by building up the norms and institutions that it requires to function. The authors propose building coalitions between progressives and conservatives because such coalitions can push for democratic reforms and rebuild democratic norms like toleration at the same time.