Why We Elect Narcissists and Sociopaths—And How We Can Stop!

Bestselling author, therapist, lawyer, and mediator Bill Eddy describes how dangerous, high-conflict personalities have gained power in governments worldwide-and what citizens can do to keep these people out of office.

Democracy is under siege. The reason isn't politics. It's personalities: too many countries have come under the sway of high-conflict politicians (HCPs). Most of these HCPs have traits of narcissistic personality disorder, antisocial (i.e., sociopathic) personality disorder, or both. This is the first and only guide for identifying and thwarting HCPs.

Bill Eddy says the key to understanding HCPs is their use of what he calls the Fantasy Crisis Triad:
1. There's a terrible crisis!
2. It's caused by this evil person or group.
3. I'm the only person who can solve it and save you.

Using Hitler, Stalin, Putin, Berlusconi, Chavez, Nixon, Trump and others as case studies, Eddy shows how HCPs create or exacerbate conflict to manipulate our emotions and rise to power. But he also shows how we can spot HCPs early on (he includes a checklist of forty typical behaviors), respond to them effectively, and identify and give our support to genuine leaders.