Download or read book Democracy in One Book or Less written by David Litt and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2020-06-16 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Wry, quickly readable, yet informed and edgy . . . whimsy and pop culture, enlisted toward the end of knowledge.” — The Atlantic “Brings Dave Barry-style humor to an illuminating book on what is wrong with American democracy — and how to put it right. . . . Litt’s playful stories and fun facts explode common wisdom. . . . In the book’s strongest contribution, Litt shows how radically our democracy has been altered in recent decades [, making] the case that nearly all of these negative trends are occurring by design.” — Washington Post “Strikingly timely. . . . [Litt] offers ways to fix governmental ills that stymie all Americans and does so with a breezy and accessible wit.” — The Guardian “Remarkably prescient and applicable. It's rare to feel good about the way things are going, but Litt's book will get you there.” — Elle, “23 Books That Will Put You in a Good Mood, Guaranteed” “Litt’s book laces his signature humor into his exploration of American Democracy and how it has transformed over the years.” — Time, “45 New Books You Need to Read This Summer” “Casts a welcome, cleansing beam of light on a subject that has become increasingly murky and frustratingly confusing . . . Litt has a breezy, often conversational tone, but that in no way diminishes the force of his argument. Politics has changed, and not in a good way. But there are ways American democracy can be fixed, and it is to Litt’s credit that he offers practical albeit challenging solutions to the problems confronting our system of governance.” — Booklist (starred review) “[A] snappy and well-informed dissection of the current state of American democracy. . . Both optimistic and clear-eyed, this quip-filled call to action will resonate strongly with young progressives.” — Publishers Weekly “A pleasure to read, even in its darkest moments, and refreshingly optimistic about the future of the republic.” — Kirkus Reviews “Hilarious and incisive. If you want to understand what happened to America and how to change it, Democracy in One Book or Less will make you laugh and think, all at the same time.” — David Axelrod, former senior advisor to Barack Obama and author of Believer: My Forty Years in Politics “You think you know about politics and the motivations and machinations of Washington—and then you read this book. A wildly entertaining and informative journey that peels back the curtain on how the Beltway functions, David Litt’s latest is a must-read for anyone who can’t look away from the ‘what’ of the news and wants to understand the ‘why.’” — Amie Parnes, co-author of Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign “If you want to understand how our government really works without having a panic attack or a migraine, read this book. The way David tells stories about politics is funny, informative, and, most important, hopeful. David Litt dares to remain inspired, and that is what the conversation around politics needs most.” — Ilana Glazer, co-creator and co-star of Broad City “I’m so relieved to have this book at this moment in our political climate, a guide to our democracy when we so desperately need one.” — Abbi Jacobson, co-creator and co-star of Broad City and author of I Might Regret This “David Litt’s book is equal parts how-to, historical, and hilarious as he takes us through the trials and travails of how the electorate and democracy in general works—and sometimes doesn’t—yet still lovingly shows us that it’s worth it all the same. A warm, pithy, and inspiring read.” — Keegan-Michael Key “I always look forward to David Litt’s fiercely intelligent and funny take on the current state of things. If ever there was a time we needed a hilarious and thought-provoking look at how our democracy got to this point—and how we can save it—it’s now!” — Billy Eichner “Democracy in One Book or Less is by turns funny and illuminating. Litt combines his trademark humor and witty writing with an urgent call to fix American democracy. It’s a tragicomedy that makes you a better citizen while you laugh and shake your head in disbelief at our broken system.” — Brian Klaas, assistant professor of global politics at University College London and columnist for the Washington Post

Download or read book Democracy and Political Ignorance written by Ilya Somin and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-02 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the biggest problems with modern democracy is that most of the public is usually ignorant of politics and government. Often, many people understand that their votes are unlikely to change the outcome of an election and don't see the point in learning much about politics. This may be rational, but it creates a nation of people with little political knowledge and little ability to objectively evaluate what they do know. In Democracy and Political Ignorance, Ilya Somin mines the depths of ignorance in America and reveals the extent to which it is a major problem for democracy. Somin weighs various options for solving this problem, arguing that political ignorance is best mitigated and its effects lessened by decentralizing and limiting government. Somin provocatively argues that people make better decisions when they choose what to purchase in the market or which state or local government to live under, than when they vote at the ballot box, because they have stronger incentives to acquire relevant information and to use it wisely.

Download or read book Democracy May Not Exist But We ll Miss It When It s Gone written by Astra Taylor and published by Metropolitan Books. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is democracy really? What do we mean when we use the term? And can it ever truly exist?Astra Taylor, hailed as a “New Civil Rights Leader” by the Los Angeles Times, provides surprising answers. There is no shortage of democracy, at least in name, and yet it is in crisis everywhere we look. From a cabal of plutocrats in the White House to gerrymandering and dark-money compaign contributions, it is clear that the principle of government by and for the people is not living up to its promise. The problems lie deeper than any one election cycle. As Astra Taylor demonstrates, real democracy—fully inclusive and completely egalitarian—has in fact never existed. In a tone that is both philosophical and anecdotal, weaving together history, theory, the stories of individuals, and interviews with such leading thinkers as Cornel West and Wendy Brown, Taylor invites us to reexamine the term. Is democracy a means or an end, a process or a set of desired outcomes? What if those outcomes, whatever they may be—peace, prosperity, equality, liberty, an engaged citizenry—can be achieved by non-democratic means? In what areas of life should democratic principles apply? If democracy means rule by the people, what does it mean to rule and who counts as the people? Democracy's inherent paradoxes often go unnamed and unrecognized. Exploring such questions, Democracy May Not Exist offers a better understanding of what is possible, what we want, why democracy is so hard to realize, and why it is worth striving for.

Download or read book 10 Less Democracy written by Garett Jones and published by . This book was released on 2021-03-16 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Democracy is a matter of degree, and this book offers mainstream empirical evidence that shows how rich democracies would be better off with a few degrees less of it.

Download or read book Democracy in Decline written by Larry Diamond and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2015-10 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Is Democracy in Decline? is a short book that takes up the fascinating question on whether this once-revolutionary form of government--the bedrock of Western liberalism--is fast disappearing. Has the growth of corporate capitalism, mass economic inequality, and endemic corruption reversed the spread of democracy worldwide? In this incisive collection, leading thinkers address this disturbing and critically important issue. Published as part of the National Endowment for Democracy's 25th anniversary--and drawn from articles forthcoming in the Journal of Democracy--this collection includes seven essays from a stellar group of democracy scholars: Francis Fukuyama, Robert Kagan, Thomas Carothers, Marc Plattner, Larry Diamond, Philippe Schmitter, Steven Levitsky, Ivan Krastev, and Lucan Way. Written in a thought-provoking style from seven different perspectives, this book provides an eye-opening look at how the very foundation of Western political culture may be imperiled"--

Download or read book Assessing the Quality of Democracy written by Larry Diamond and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2005-11-25 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher description

Download or read book Democracy in One Book Or Less written by David Litt and published by Ecco. This book was released on 2021-06-08 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bill Bryson meets Thomas Frank in this deeply insightful, unexpectedly hilarious story of how politicians hijacked American democracy and how we can take it back The democracy you live in today is different--completely different--from the democracy you were born into. You probably don't realize just how radically your republic has been altered during your lifetime. Yet more than any policy issue, political trend, or even Donald Trump himself, our redesigned system of government is responsible for the peril America faces today. What explains the gap between what We, the People want and what our elected leaders do? How can we fix our politics before it's too late? And how can we truly understand the state of our democracy without wanting to crawl under a rock? That's what former Obama speechwriter David Litt set out to answer. Poking into forgotten corners of history, translating political science into plain English, and traveling the country to meet experts and activists, Litt explains how the world's greatest experiment in democracy went awry. (He also tries to crash a party at Mitch McConnell's former frat house. It goes poorly.) The result of Litt's journey is something you might not have thought possible: a page-turner about the political process. You'll meet the Supreme Court justice charged with murder, learn how James Madison's college roommate broke the Senate, encounter a citrus thief who embodies what's wrong with our elections, and join Belle the bill as she tries to become a law (a quest far more harrowing than the one in Schoolhouse Rock ). Yet despite his clear-eyed assessment of the dangers we face, Litt remains audaciously optimistic. He offers a to-do list of bold yet achievable changes--a blueprint for restoring the balance of power in America before it's too late.

Download or read book Democracy Rules written by Jan-Werner Müller and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2021-07-06 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A much-anticipated guide to saving democracy, from one of our most essential political thinkers. Everyone knows that democracy is in trouble, but do we know what democracy actually is? Jan-Werner Müller, author of the widely translated and acclaimed What Is Populism?, takes us back to basics in Democracy Rules. In this short, elegant volume, he explains how democracy is founded not just on liberty and equality, but also on uncertainty. The latter will sound unattractive at a time when the pandemic has created unbearable uncertainty for so many. But it is crucial for ensuring democracy’s dynamic and creative character, which remains one of its signal advantages over authoritarian alternatives that seek to render politics (and individual citizens) completely predictable. Müller shows that we need to re-invigorate the intermediary institutions that have been deemed essential for democracy’s success ever since the nineteenth century: political parties and free media. Contrary to conventional wisdom, these are not spent forces in a supposed age of post-party populist leadership and post-truth. Müller suggests concretely how democracy’s critical infrastructure of intermediary institutions could be renovated, re-empowering citizens while also preserving a place for professionals such as journalists and judges. These institutions are also indispensable for negotiating a democratic social contract that reverses the secession of plutocrats and the poorest from a common political world.

Download or read book The People Vs Democracy written by Yascha Mounk and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2018-03-05 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Uiteenzetting over de opkomst van het populisme en het gevaar daarvan voor de democratie.

Download or read book Democracy written by Larry Diamond and published by Journal of Democracy Book. This book was released on 2009-09-07 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since its inception, the Journal of Democracy has served as the premier venue for scholarship on democratization. The newest volume in the acclaimed Journal of Democracy book series, Democracy: A Reader brings together the seminal works that have appeared in its pages in nearly twenty years of publication. Democracy is in retreat around the world, giving renewed relevance and urgency to fundamental questions about the system that nevertheless remains the ideal standard of governance. Contributors ask: What exactly is democracy, and what sustains it? What institutions are best suited to a democratic system? Can elections produce undemocratic outcomes? Is democracy a universal value? Democracy: A Reader addresses these important concerns with critical discussions on delegative democracy, social capital, constitutional design, federalism, hybrid regimes, competitive authoritarianism, and more. With such influential contributors as Francis Fukuyama, Robert Putnam, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Anwar Ibrahim, this is an indispensable resource for students of democracy and instructors at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Contributors: Michael E. Alvarez, Nancy Bermeo, Russell Bova, José Antonio Cheibub, Larry Diamond, Jørgen Elklit, Abdou Filali-Ansary, M. Steven Fish, Francis Fukuyama, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Donald L. Horowitz, Anwar Ibrahim, Terry Lynn Karl, Steven Levitsky, Arend Lijphart, Fernando Limongi, Vali Nasr, Guillermo O'Donnell, Marc F. Plattner, Adam Przeworski, Robert D. Putnam, Andrew Reynolds, Giovanni Sartori, Andreas Schedler, Philippe C. Schmitter, Amartya Sen, Alfred Stepan, Palle Svensson, Nicolas van de Walle, Lucan A. Way

Download or read book Democracy written by David A. Moss and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2017-02-01 with total page 784 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historian David Moss adapts the case study method made famous by Harvard Business School to revitalize our conversations about governance and democracy and show how the United States has often thrived on political conflict. These 19 cases ask us to weigh choices and consequences, wrestle with momentous decisions, and come to our own conclusions.

Download or read book Twilight of Democracy written by Anne Applebaum and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2020-07-21 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • "How did our democracy go wrong? This extraordinary document ... is Applebaum's answer." —Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny The Pulitzer Prize–winning historian explains, with electrifying clarity, why elites in democracies around the world are turning toward nationalism and authoritarianism. From the United States and Britain to continental Europe and beyond, liberal democracy is under siege, while authoritarianism is on the rise. In Twilight of Democracy, Anne Applebaum, an award-winning historian of Soviet atrocities who was one of the first American journalists to raise an alarm about antidemocratic trends in the West, explains the lure of nationalism and autocracy. In this captivating essay, she contends that political systems with radically simple beliefs are inherently appealing, especially when they benefit the loyal to the exclusion of everyone else. Elegantly written and urgently argued, Twilight of Democracy is a brilliant dissection of a world-shaking shift and a stirring glimpse of the road back to democratic values.

Download or read book Thanks Obama written by David Litt and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-09-19 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Litt is a funny and skillful storyteller… While the first half of the book is enjoyable, the second half is masterly, rising to a crescendo that is as rousing as, well, a particularly inspiring campaign speech.” — New York Times Book Review “Graceful, instructive, wry speechwriter memoirs like Litt’s are the exception rather than the norm. . . . Thanks, Obama will join the ranks of lasting works about the texture of political life, and of coming-of-age accounts by staffers who grow up personally and politically at the same time.” — The Atlantic “His time [in the White House] was as ‘hopey changey’ as advertised—with a little bit of absurdity and humor added into the mix.” — Elle, Best of the Month “Serve[s] as a more devastating indictment of the current administration than a campaign-style book ever could . . . limber, funny and illuminating.” — New Republic “Highly entertaining . . . much more than a scrapbook of Beltway gossip and Obama idolatry.” — Pacific Standard “Irresistibly charming . . . Litt minted his star converting world affairs into jokes. The translation of satire back to sincerity is trickier to pull off, and lands with its own undeniable grace.” — Slate “Litt is a skilled storyteller with a keen sense of humor and unique experiences and insight to draw upon.” — Bustle “Litt also offers both humor and optimism, two things many of us sorely need these days.” — Bustle, Best of the Month “What Litt understands and what Thanks, Obama makes clear may very soon be forgotten: The finest presidential speeches can heal the nation.” — Paste Magazine “A thoughtful and funny account of life as a minnow surrounded by Washington’s self-important whales . . . ranks with other classics from former White House speechwriters, such as Peggy Noonan’s What I Saw at the Revolution.” — USA Today, *** 1/2 “Funny and unexpectedly moving . . . a powerful reminder that true fulfillment can come from wielding even the smallest bit of influence on behalf of those who have none.” — Washington Monthly “A fast, funny ride through the halls of power.” — Kirkus “Veering between tragedy and comedy, between self-doubt and hubris, Litt vividly recreates a period during which he saw his words sometimes become the words of a nation.” — Publishers Weekly “By turns moving and hilarious, David Litt’s rollicking account of his journey from campaign field grunt to presidential speechwriter is an irresistible read.” — David Axelrod, former Senior Advisor to Barack Obama and author of Believer: My Forty Years in Politics “David Litt has done the impossible: written a smart, insightful, and funny White House memoir you don’t have to be a political junkie to love. Even better, he takes us back to a saner more compassionate time when our president liked to read.” — Judd Apatow “Terrific—part first-hand story about being inspired by a cultural icon, part how-to manual for getting involved in politics and making change. Thanks, Obama is a hysterical, pithy, and heartfelt trip down memory lane. And boy, do we need it.” — Keegan-Michael Key “David Litt is brilliant. I’ve gotten to witness firsthand some of the work he did for President Obama at past White House Correspondents Dinners and it’s always intelligent, razor sharp and hilarious.” — Billy Eichner “An outstanding, hilarious, and precise memoir . . . I laughed again and again. This is an excellent account of what it felt like to work for the Second to Last President of The United States.” — John Mulaney, co-creator and star of Oh, Hello “Don’t be fooled by the self-deprecating narrator, this portrait of a young speechwriter is filled with wit, wisdom, and a loving touch. David’s labors remind of us a not-so-distant past when words mattered. If I was a simpleton and a book critic, I’d say thumbs up.” — Matt Walsh, HBO’s Veep “David Litt is a natural storyteller and an absolute joy.” — Tig Notaro, author of I’m Just a Person “Thanks, Obama is a wonderful book for the same reasons David Litt’s speeches for the White House were wonderful: it’s well-written, it’s funny, it tells us exactly what we’re curious about, and. . . it reminds us that a great president galvanizes not only his staff but his country.” — Anne Fadiman, author of Ex Libris “Funny and warm, David Litt knows how to make people laugh regardless of their political affiliation.” — Mike Birbiglia, author of Sleepwalk With Me: And Other Painfully True Stories “A magnificent memoir on the Obama presidency. You’ll walk away with another kind of hope that’s needed now more than ever: the belief that a government can actually do some good.” — Adam Grant, author of Originals and coauthor of Option B “A talented (and very funny) speechwriter, David will make you laugh. He’ll make you miss Obama more than you do already. Most of all, he’ll renew your faith in the politics of hope.” — Stephanie Cutter, former deputy campaign manager for Barack Obama

Download or read book Democracy in America written by Benjamin I. Page and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2020-04-02 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America faces daunting problems—stagnant wages, high health care costs, neglected schools, deteriorating public services. How did we get here? Through decades of dysfunctional government. In Democracy in America? veteran political observers Benjamin I. Page and Martin Gilens marshal an unprecedented array of evidence to show that while other countries have responded to a rapidly changing economy by helping people who’ve been left behind, the United States has failed to do so. Instead, we have actually exacerbated inequality, enriching corporations and the wealthy while leaving ordinary citizens to fend for themselves. What’s the solution? More democracy. More opportunities for citizens to shape what their government does. To repair our democracy, Page and Gilens argue, we must change the way we choose candidates and conduct our elections, reform our governing institutions, and curb the power of money in politics. By doing so, we can reduce polarization and gridlock, address pressing challenges, and enact policies that truly reflect the interests of average Americans. Updated with new information, this book lays out a set of proposals that would boost citizen participation, curb the power of money, and democratize the House and Senate.

Download or read book Democracy in Chains written by Nancy MacLean and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-06-05 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Lillian Smith Book Award Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist for the National Book Award The Nation's "Most Valuable Book" “[A] vibrant intellectual history of the radical right.”—The Atlantic “This sixty-year campaign to make libertarianism mainstream and eventually take the government itself is at the heart of Democracy in Chains. . . . If you're worried about what all this means for America's future, you should be.”—NPR An explosive exposé of the right’s relentless campaign to eliminate unions, suppress voting, privatize public education, stop action on climate change, and alter the Constitution. Behind today’s headlines of billionaires taking over our government is a secretive political establishment with long, deep, and troubling roots. The capitalist radical right has been working not simply to change who rules, but to fundamentally alter the rules of democratic governance. But billionaires did not launch this movement; a white intellectual in the embattled Jim Crow South did. Democracy in Chains names its true architect—the Nobel Prize-winning political economist James McGill Buchanan—and dissects the operation he and his colleagues designed over six decades to alter every branch of government to disempower the majority. In a brilliant and engrossing narrative, Nancy MacLean shows how Buchanan forged his ideas about government in a last gasp attempt to preserve the white elite’s power in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education. In response to the widening of American democracy, he developed a brilliant, if diabolical, plan to undermine the ability of the majority to use its numbers to level the playing field between the rich and powerful and the rest of us. Corporate donors and their right-wing foundations were only too eager to support Buchanan’s work in teaching others how to divide America into “makers” and “takers.” And when a multibillionaire on a messianic mission to rewrite the social contract of the modern world, Charles Koch, discovered Buchanan, he created a vast, relentless, and multi-armed machine to carry out Buchanan’s strategy. Without Buchanan's ideas and Koch's money, the libertarian right would not have succeeded in its stealth takeover of the Republican Party as a delivery mechanism. Now, with Mike Pence as Vice President, the cause has a longtime loyalist in the White House, not to mention a phalanx of Republicans in the House, the Senate, a majority of state governments, and the courts, all carrying out the plan. That plan includes harsher laws to undermine unions, privatizing everything from schools to health care and Social Security, and keeping as many of us as possible from voting. Based on ten years of unique research, Democracy in Chains tells a chilling story of right-wing academics and big money run amok. This revelatory work of scholarship is also a call to arms to protect the achievements of twentieth-century American self-government.

Download or read book The Shortest History of Democracy 4 000 Years of Self Government A Retelling for Our Times Shortest History written by John Keane and published by The Experiment, LLC. This book was released on 2022-09-06 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The full chronological sweep of democracy, from the assemblies of ancient Mesopotamia and Athens to present perils around the globe. The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read. This compact history unspools the tumultuous global story that began with democracy’s radical core idea: We can collaborate, as equals, to determine our own futures. Acclaimed political thinker John Keane traces how this concept emerged and evolved, from the earliest “assembly democracies” in Syria-Mesopotamia to European-style “electoral democracy” and to our uncertain present. Today, thanks to our always-on communication channels, governments answer not only to voters on Election Day but to intense scrutiny every day. This is “monitory democracy”—in Keane’s view, the most complex and vibrant model yet—but it’s not invulnerable. Monitory democracy comes with its own pathologies, and the new despotism wields powerful warning systems, from social media to election monitoring, against democracy itself. At this urgent moment, when despots in countries such as China, Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia reject the promises of democratic power-sharing, Keane mounts a bold defense of a precious global ideal.

Download or read book Too Dumb for Democracy written by David Moscrop and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bad decisions down to a science. D'oh-mocracy at its finest. Brexit. Trump. Ford Nation. In this timely book, David Moscrop asks why we make irrational political decisions and whether our stone-age brains can process democracy in the information age. In an era overshadowed by income inequality, environmental catastrophes, terrorism at home and abroad, and the decline of democracy, Moscrop argues that the political decision-making process has never been more important. In fact, our survival may depend on it. Drawing on both political science and psychology, Moscrop examines how our brains, our environment, the media, and institutions influence decision-making. Making good decisions is not impossible, Moscrop argues, but the psychological and political odds are sometimes stacked against us. In this readable and provocative investigation of our often-flawed decisions, Moscrop explains what's going wrong in today's political landscape and how individuals, societies, and institutions can work together to set things right.