-
Let the People Rule
- How Direct Democracy Can Meet the Populist Challenge
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $17.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Why We're Polarized
- By: Ezra Klein
- Narrated by: Ezra Klein
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Why We’re Polarized, Klein reveals the structural and psychological forces behind America’s descent into division and dysfunction. Neither a polemic nor a lament, this book offers a clear framework for understanding everything from Trump’s rise to the Democratic Party’s leftward shift to the politicization of everyday culture. America is polarized, first and foremost, by identity. Everyone engaged in American politics is engaged, at some level, in identity politics.
-
-
Good as an intro, skip if you’re a wonk
- By Tony on 01-29-20
By: Ezra Klein
-
The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution
- By: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 22 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Virtually all human societies were once organized tribally, yet over time most developed new political institutions which included a central state that could keep the peace and uniform laws that applied to all citizens. Some went on to create governments that were accountable to their constituents. We take these institutions for granted, but they are absent or are unable to perform in many of today’s developing countries—with often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world.
-
-
Few forests, but lots of trees
- By Steve Pagano on 10-05-15
By: Francis Fukuyama
-
Creative Schools
- The Grassroots Revolution That's Transforming Education
- By: Lou Aronica, Ken Robinson
- Narrated by: Ken Robinson PhD
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ken Robinson is one of the world's most influential voices in education, and his 2006 TED Talk on the subject is the most viewed in the organization's history. Now, the internationally recognized leader on creativity and human potential focuses on one of the most critical issues of our time: how to transform the nation's troubled educational system.
-
-
The Answer to Why Students Stop Trying
- By Alison Sattler on 07-21-15
By: Lou Aronica, and others
-
Why Nations Fail
- The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
- By: Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine?
-
-
Pros and Cons of "Why Nations Fail"
- By Joshua Kim on 05-01-12
By: Daron Acemoglu, and others
-
Political Tribes
- Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations
- By: Amy Chua
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Humans are tribal. We need to belong to groups. In many parts of the world, the group identities that matter most - the ones that people will kill and die for - are ethnic, religious, sectarian, or clan-based. But because America tends to see the world in terms of nation-states engaged in great ideological battles - capitalism vs. communism, democracy vs. authoritarianism, the "free world" vs. the "axis of evil" - we are often spectacularly blind to the power of tribal politics. Time and again this blindness has undermined American foreign policy.
-
-
Great start but suffered from generalization bias
- By Leonardo P. on 03-25-19
By: Amy Chua
-
No Shortcuts
- Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age
- By: Jane F. McAlevey
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The crisis of the progressive movement is so evident that nothing less than a fundamental rethinking of its basic assumptions is required. Today's progressives now work for professional organizations more comfortable with the inside game in Washington, DC (and capitols throughout the West), where they are outmatched and outspent by corporate interests. In No Shortcuts, Jane McAlevey argues that progressives can win, but lack the organized power to enact significant change, to outlast their bosses in labor fights, and to hold elected leaders accountable.
-
-
great
- By Anonymous User on 11-29-20
By: Jane F. McAlevey
-
Why We're Polarized
- By: Ezra Klein
- Narrated by: Ezra Klein
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Why We’re Polarized, Klein reveals the structural and psychological forces behind America’s descent into division and dysfunction. Neither a polemic nor a lament, this book offers a clear framework for understanding everything from Trump’s rise to the Democratic Party’s leftward shift to the politicization of everyday culture. America is polarized, first and foremost, by identity. Everyone engaged in American politics is engaged, at some level, in identity politics.
-
-
Good as an intro, skip if you’re a wonk
- By Tony on 01-29-20
By: Ezra Klein
-
The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution
- By: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 22 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Virtually all human societies were once organized tribally, yet over time most developed new political institutions which included a central state that could keep the peace and uniform laws that applied to all citizens. Some went on to create governments that were accountable to their constituents. We take these institutions for granted, but they are absent or are unable to perform in many of today’s developing countries—with often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world.
-
-
Few forests, but lots of trees
- By Steve Pagano on 10-05-15
By: Francis Fukuyama
-
Creative Schools
- The Grassroots Revolution That's Transforming Education
- By: Lou Aronica, Ken Robinson
- Narrated by: Ken Robinson PhD
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ken Robinson is one of the world's most influential voices in education, and his 2006 TED Talk on the subject is the most viewed in the organization's history. Now, the internationally recognized leader on creativity and human potential focuses on one of the most critical issues of our time: how to transform the nation's troubled educational system.
-
-
The Answer to Why Students Stop Trying
- By Alison Sattler on 07-21-15
By: Lou Aronica, and others
-
Why Nations Fail
- The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
- By: Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine?
-
-
Pros and Cons of "Why Nations Fail"
- By Joshua Kim on 05-01-12
By: Daron Acemoglu, and others
-
Political Tribes
- Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations
- By: Amy Chua
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Humans are tribal. We need to belong to groups. In many parts of the world, the group identities that matter most - the ones that people will kill and die for - are ethnic, religious, sectarian, or clan-based. But because America tends to see the world in terms of nation-states engaged in great ideological battles - capitalism vs. communism, democracy vs. authoritarianism, the "free world" vs. the "axis of evil" - we are often spectacularly blind to the power of tribal politics. Time and again this blindness has undermined American foreign policy.
-
-
Great start but suffered from generalization bias
- By Leonardo P. on 03-25-19
By: Amy Chua
-
No Shortcuts
- Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age
- By: Jane F. McAlevey
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The crisis of the progressive movement is so evident that nothing less than a fundamental rethinking of its basic assumptions is required. Today's progressives now work for professional organizations more comfortable with the inside game in Washington, DC (and capitols throughout the West), where they are outmatched and outspent by corporate interests. In No Shortcuts, Jane McAlevey argues that progressives can win, but lack the organized power to enact significant change, to outlast their bosses in labor fights, and to hold elected leaders accountable.
-
-
great
- By Anonymous User on 11-29-20
By: Jane F. McAlevey
-
Unrivaled
- Why America Will Remain the World's Sole Superpower (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs)
- By: Michael Beckley
- Narrated by: Chris Monteiro
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States has been the world's dominant power for more than a century. Now, many analysts believe that other countries are rising and the United States is in decline. Is the unipolar moment over? Is America finished as a superpower? In this book, Michael Beckley argues that the United States has unique advantages over other nations that, if used wisely, will allow it to remain the world's sole superpower throughout this century. We are not living in a transitional, post-Cold War era.
-
-
Great Statistical Information!
- By Holly on 07-26-19
By: Michael Beckley
-
Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop
- The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America
- By: Lee Drutman
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
American democracy is at an impasse. After years of zero-sum partisan trench warfare, our political institutions are deteriorating. Our norms are collapsing. Democrats and Republicans no longer merely argue; they cut off contact with each other. In short, the two-party system is breaking our democracy, and driving us all crazy.
-
-
Good book
- By David T. on 10-05-20
By: Lee Drutman
-
Our Time Is Now
- Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America
- By: Stacey Abrams
- Narrated by: Stacey Abrams
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Celebrated national leader and best-selling author Stacey Abrams offers a blueprint to end voter suppression, empower our citizens, and take back our country. A recognized expert on fair voting and civic engagement, Abrams chronicles a chilling account of how the right to vote and the principle of democracy have been and continue to be under attack.
-
-
Relevant civil inspirations fr. leg. knowhow
- By Lynne B. on 06-19-20
By: Stacey Abrams
-
The Liberty Amendments
- Restoring the American Republic
- By: Mark R. Levin
- Narrated by: Jason Culp, Mark R. Levin
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mark R. Levin has made the case, in numerous New York Times best-selling books - Men in Black, Liberty and Tyranny, and Ameritopia - that the principles undergirding our society and governmental system are unravelling. In The Liberty Amendments, he turns to the founding fathers and the constitution itself for guidance in restoring the American republic.
-
-
Only by contending with challenges...
- By TenStarDoug on 08-13-13
By: Mark R. Levin
-
The Bill of Obligations
- The Ten Habits of Good Citizens
- By: Richard Haass
- Narrated by: Richard Haass
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States faces dangerous threats from Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, terrorists, climate change, and future pandemics. The greatest peril to the country, however, comes not from abroad but from within, from none other than ourselves. The question facing us is whether we are prepared to do what is necessary to save our democracy. The Bill of Obligations is a bold call for change. In this book, New York Times bestselling author Richard Haass argues that the very idea of citizenship must be revised and expanded.
-
-
Trying His Best to Be Balenced
- By Kindle Customer Frank E. Norman III on 01-28-23
By: Richard Haass
-
Why Vote Leave
- By: Daniel Hannan
- Narrated by: Daniel Hannan
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
MEP and award-winning political writer Daniel Hannan argues for a British exit ahead of the coming referendum. Hannan demonstrates that the EU is past its sell-by date, rendered obsolete by technological advances, shrinking economically and less relevant to our economic needs than ever. Worse than that, he shows that the EU can’t reform, can’t be democratic and can’t be divorced from its goal of ever-closer political union.
-
-
A MUST READ EVEN AFTER THE REFERENDUM!
- By Christine on 06-28-16
By: Daniel Hannan
-
The Centrist Manifesto
- By: Charles Wheelan
- Narrated by: Charles Wheelan
- Length: 3 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From debt ceiling standoffs to single-digit Congress approval ratings, America’s political system has never been more polarized - or paralyzed - than it is today. As best-selling author and public policy expert Charles Wheelan writes, now is the time for a pragmatic Centrist party that will identify and embrace the best Democratic and Republican ideals, moving us forward on the most urgent issues for our nation.
-
-
Must read for all rational americans
- By CM on 09-15-15
By: Charles Wheelan
-
Right Here, Right Now
- Politics and Leadership in the Age of Disruption
- By: Stephen J. Harper
- Narrated by: Stephen J. Harper
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world is in flux. Disruptive technologies, ideas, and politicians are challenging business models, norms, and political conventions everywhere. How we, as leaders in business and politics, choose to respond matters greatly. Right Here, Right Now sets out a pragmatic, forward-looking vision for leaders in business and politics by analyzing how economic, social, and public policy trends - including globalized movements of capital, goods, and services, and labor - have affected our economies, communities, and governments.
-
-
Excellent book on Politics for Canadians AND Americans
- By John Fernandes on 10-19-18
-
Texit
- Why and How Texas Will Leave the Union
- By: Daniel Miller
- Narrated by: Dr. Bill Brooks
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Channeling his 20 years of experience on the issue, Daniel Miller takes the listener through the historical and cultural foundations of Texit, as well as its impact on mainstream politics, and plainly lays out the grievances expressed by many Texans that drive their support for an independent Texas. Texit also addresses the most common objections by using facts and sheds light on what a future Republic of Texas could look like.
-
-
Awesome book.
- By Doug on 08-09-19
By: Daniel Miller
-
Capital and Ideology
- By: Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer - translator
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 48 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Piketty’s best-selling Capital in the Twenty-First Century galvanized global debate about inequality. In this audacious follow-up, Piketty challenges us to revolutionize how we think about politics, ideology, and history. He exposes the ideas that have sustained inequality for the past millennium, reveals why the shallow politics of right and left are failing us today, and outlines the structure of a fairer economic system.
-
-
Big thinking at its finest
- By Amazon Customer on 03-20-20
By: Thomas Piketty, and others
-
They Don't Represent Us
- Reclaiming Our Democracy
- By: Lawrence Lessig
- Narrated by: Lawrence Lessig
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In They Don’t Represent Us, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig charts the way in which the fundamental institutions of our democracy, including our media, respond to narrow interests rather than to the needs and wishes of the nation’s citizenry. But the blame does not only lie with “them” - Washington’s politicians and power brokers, Lessig argues. The problem is also “us.”
-
-
All Americans should read/listen to this.
- By Christopher W Catron on 03-22-20
By: Lawrence Lessig
-
Captured
- The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy
- By: Sheldon Whitehouse, Melanie Wachtell Stinnett
- Narrated by: Michael Bybee, Sheldon Whitehouse
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Americans know something is wrong in their government. Senator Whitehouse combines history, legal scholarship, and personal experiences to provide the first hands-on, comprehensive explanation of what's gone wrong, exposing multiple avenues through which our government has been infiltrated and disabled by corporate powers. Captured reveals an original oversight by the founders and shows how and why corporate power has exploited that vulnerability.
-
-
Dark Money is Diabolic
- By D. Sooley on 08-21-19
By: Sheldon Whitehouse, and others
Publisher's Summary
How referendums can diffuse populist tensions by putting power back into the hands of the people
Propelled by the belief that government has slipped out of the hands of ordinary citizens, a surging wave of populism is destabilizing democracies around the world. As John Matsusaka reveals in Let the People Rule, this belief is based in fact. Over the past century, while democratic governments have become more efficient, they have also become more disconnected from the people they purport to represent. The solution Matsusaka advances is familiar but surprisingly underused: direct democracy, in the form of referendums.
Drawing on examples from around the world, Matsusaka shows how direct democracy can bring policies back in line with the will of the people (and provide other benefits, like curbing corruption). Taking lessons from failed processes like Brexit, he also describes what issues are best suited to referendums and how they should be designed, and he tackles questions that have long vexed direct democracy: can voters be trusted to choose reasonable policies, and can minority rights survive majority decisions?
The result is one of the most comprehensive examinations of direct democracy to date - coupled with concrete, nonpartisan proposals for how countries can make the most of the powerful tools that referendums offer.
What listeners say about Let the People Rule
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
Related to this topic
-
The Politics Industry
- How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy
- By: Katherine M. Gehl, Michael E. Porter
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Politics Industry, Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter ingeniously apply the tools of business analysis - and Porter's distinctive Five Forces framework - to show how the political system functions just as every other competitive industry does, and how the duopoly has led to the devastating outcomes we see today. Using this competition lens, Gehl and Porter identify the most powerful lever for change - a strategy comprised of a clear set of choices in two key areas: how our elections work and how we make our laws.
-
-
Must read
- By Komiljon A. on 09-08-20
By: Katherine M. Gehl, and others
-
Republic, Lost
- How Money Corrupts Congress - and a Plan to Stop It
- By: Lawrence Lessig
- Narrated by: Lawrence Lessig
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In an era of ballooning corporate campaign expenditures, unleashed by the Supreme Court in Citizens United, trust in our government is at an all time low. More than ever before, Americans believe that money buys results in Congress - and that our Republic has been lost.Using examples that resonate as powerfully on the Right as on the Left, Republic, Lost not only makes clear how the economy of influence defeats the will of the people, but offers cogent strategies to correct our course....
-
-
Periods. Where there. Should. Not. Be. Periods.
- By Richard Nielsen on 01-18-12
By: Lawrence Lessig
-
Texit
- Why and How Texas Will Leave the Union
- By: Daniel Miller
- Narrated by: Dr. Bill Brooks
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Channeling his 20 years of experience on the issue, Daniel Miller takes the listener through the historical and cultural foundations of Texit, as well as its impact on mainstream politics, and plainly lays out the grievances expressed by many Texans that drive their support for an independent Texas. Texit also addresses the most common objections by using facts and sheds light on what a future Republic of Texas could look like.
-
-
Awesome book.
- By Doug on 08-09-19
By: Daniel Miller
-
The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution
- Why Economic Inequality Threatens Our Republic
- By: Ganesh Sitaraman
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For most of Western history, Sitaraman argues, constitutional thinkers assumed economic inequality was inevitable and inescapable - and they designed governments to prevent class divisions from spilling over into class warfare. The American Constitution is different. Compared to Europe and the ancient world, America was a society of almost unprecedented economic equality, and the founding generation saw this equality as essential for the preservation of America's republic.
-
-
Very well done
- By JLyman on 08-27-17
By: Ganesh Sitaraman
-
It's Even Worse Than It Looks
- How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism
- By: Thomas E. Mann, Norman J. Ornstein
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Congressional scholars Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein identify two overriding problems that have led Congress—and the United States—to the brink of institutional collapse. But they offer a panoply of useful ideas and reforms, endorsing some solutions, like greater public participation and institutional restructuring, while debunking others, like independent or third-party candidates. Above all, they call on the media as well as the public to focus on the true causes of dysfunction rather than just throwing the bums out every election cycle.
-
-
Even the well-informed will learn something here
- By Rob on 07-01-12
By: Thomas E. Mann, and others
-
Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop
- The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America
- By: Lee Drutman
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
American democracy is at an impasse. After years of zero-sum partisan trench warfare, our political institutions are deteriorating. Our norms are collapsing. Democrats and Republicans no longer merely argue; they cut off contact with each other. In short, the two-party system is breaking our democracy, and driving us all crazy.
-
-
Good book
- By David T. on 10-05-20
By: Lee Drutman
-
The Politics Industry
- How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy
- By: Katherine M. Gehl, Michael E. Porter
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Politics Industry, Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter ingeniously apply the tools of business analysis - and Porter's distinctive Five Forces framework - to show how the political system functions just as every other competitive industry does, and how the duopoly has led to the devastating outcomes we see today. Using this competition lens, Gehl and Porter identify the most powerful lever for change - a strategy comprised of a clear set of choices in two key areas: how our elections work and how we make our laws.
-
-
Must read
- By Komiljon A. on 09-08-20
By: Katherine M. Gehl, and others
-
Republic, Lost
- How Money Corrupts Congress - and a Plan to Stop It
- By: Lawrence Lessig
- Narrated by: Lawrence Lessig
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In an era of ballooning corporate campaign expenditures, unleashed by the Supreme Court in Citizens United, trust in our government is at an all time low. More than ever before, Americans believe that money buys results in Congress - and that our Republic has been lost.Using examples that resonate as powerfully on the Right as on the Left, Republic, Lost not only makes clear how the economy of influence defeats the will of the people, but offers cogent strategies to correct our course....
-
-
Periods. Where there. Should. Not. Be. Periods.
- By Richard Nielsen on 01-18-12
By: Lawrence Lessig
-
Texit
- Why and How Texas Will Leave the Union
- By: Daniel Miller
- Narrated by: Dr. Bill Brooks
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Channeling his 20 years of experience on the issue, Daniel Miller takes the listener through the historical and cultural foundations of Texit, as well as its impact on mainstream politics, and plainly lays out the grievances expressed by many Texans that drive their support for an independent Texas. Texit also addresses the most common objections by using facts and sheds light on what a future Republic of Texas could look like.
-
-
Awesome book.
- By Doug on 08-09-19
By: Daniel Miller
-
The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution
- Why Economic Inequality Threatens Our Republic
- By: Ganesh Sitaraman
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For most of Western history, Sitaraman argues, constitutional thinkers assumed economic inequality was inevitable and inescapable - and they designed governments to prevent class divisions from spilling over into class warfare. The American Constitution is different. Compared to Europe and the ancient world, America was a society of almost unprecedented economic equality, and the founding generation saw this equality as essential for the preservation of America's republic.
-
-
Very well done
- By JLyman on 08-27-17
By: Ganesh Sitaraman
-
It's Even Worse Than It Looks
- How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism
- By: Thomas E. Mann, Norman J. Ornstein
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Congressional scholars Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein identify two overriding problems that have led Congress—and the United States—to the brink of institutional collapse. But they offer a panoply of useful ideas and reforms, endorsing some solutions, like greater public participation and institutional restructuring, while debunking others, like independent or third-party candidates. Above all, they call on the media as well as the public to focus on the true causes of dysfunction rather than just throwing the bums out every election cycle.
-
-
Even the well-informed will learn something here
- By Rob on 07-01-12
By: Thomas E. Mann, and others
-
Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop
- The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America
- By: Lee Drutman
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
American democracy is at an impasse. After years of zero-sum partisan trench warfare, our political institutions are deteriorating. Our norms are collapsing. Democrats and Republicans no longer merely argue; they cut off contact with each other. In short, the two-party system is breaking our democracy, and driving us all crazy.
-
-
Good book
- By David T. on 10-05-20
By: Lee Drutman
-
Enlightened Democracy
- The Case for the Electoral College, 2nd Edition
- By: Tara Ross
- Narrated by: Tara Ross
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Enlightened Democracy traces the history of the Electoral College from the Constitutional Convention to the present. The Electoral College protects our republic and promotes our liberty. Americans should defend their unique presidential election system at all costs.
-
-
Hold your breath
- By Ein on 03-13-20
By: Tara Ross
-
Let Them Eat Tweets
- How the Right Rules in an Age of Extreme Inequality
- By: Jacob S. Hacker, Paul Pierson
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Let Them Eat Tweets, best-selling political scientists Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson offer a definitive answer: the Republican Party serves its plutocratic masters to a degree without precedent in modern global history. Conservative parties, by their nature, almost always side with the rich. But when faced with popular resistance, they usually make concessions, allowing some policies that benefit the working and middle classes. After all, how can a political party maintain power in a democracy if it serves only the interests of a narrow and wealthy slice of society?
-
-
a call to action that does not shame but warns
- By SomeGuy on 08-29-20
By: Jacob S. Hacker, and others
-
It's Time to Fight Dirty
- How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics
- By: David Faris
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The American electoral system is clearly falling apart - as evidenced by the 2016 presidential election. In It's Time to Fight Dirty, David Faris offers accessible, actionable strategies for American institutional reform which don't require a constitutional amendment, and would have a lasting impact on our future. With equal amounts of playful irreverence and persuasive reasoning, Faris describes how the Constitution's deep democratic flaws constantly put progressives at a disadvantage, and lays out strategies for "fighting dirty" though obstructionism and procedural warfare.
-
-
Voiced frustrations of a long time liberal
- By Penguin on 10-15-18
By: David Faris
-
The Bill of Obligations
- The Ten Habits of Good Citizens
- By: Richard Haass
- Narrated by: Richard Haass
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States faces dangerous threats from Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, terrorists, climate change, and future pandemics. The greatest peril to the country, however, comes not from abroad but from within, from none other than ourselves. The question facing us is whether we are prepared to do what is necessary to save our democracy. The Bill of Obligations is a bold call for change. In this book, New York Times bestselling author Richard Haass argues that the very idea of citizenship must be revised and expanded.
-
-
Trying His Best to Be Balenced
- By Kindle Customer Frank E. Norman III on 01-28-23
By: Richard Haass
-
The Liberty Amendments
- Restoring the American Republic
- By: Mark R. Levin
- Narrated by: Jason Culp, Mark R. Levin
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mark R. Levin has made the case, in numerous New York Times best-selling books - Men in Black, Liberty and Tyranny, and Ameritopia - that the principles undergirding our society and governmental system are unravelling. In The Liberty Amendments, he turns to the founding fathers and the constitution itself for guidance in restoring the American republic.
-
-
Only by contending with challenges...
- By TenStarDoug on 08-13-13
By: Mark R. Levin
-
The Great Suppression
- Voting Rights, Corporate Cash, and the Conservative Assault on Democracy
- By: Zachary Roth
- Narrated by: Zach Villa
- Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Control of the country is up for grabs - and Republicans have been rigging the game in their favor. Twenty-two states have passed restrictions on voting. Ruthless gerrymandering has given the GOP a long-term grip on Congress. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has eviscerated campaign finance laws, boosting candidates backed by big money. It would be worrying enough if these were just schemes for partisan advantage. But the reality is even more disturbing.
-
-
great read
- By stephen on 08-28-16
By: Zachary Roth
-
Captured
- The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy
- By: Sheldon Whitehouse, Melanie Wachtell Stinnett
- Narrated by: Michael Bybee, Sheldon Whitehouse
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Americans know something is wrong in their government. Senator Whitehouse combines history, legal scholarship, and personal experiences to provide the first hands-on, comprehensive explanation of what's gone wrong, exposing multiple avenues through which our government has been infiltrated and disabled by corporate powers. Captured reveals an original oversight by the founders and shows how and why corporate power has exploited that vulnerability.
-
-
Dark Money is Diabolic
- By D. Sooley on 08-21-19
By: Sheldon Whitehouse, and others
-
The Agenda
- How a Republican Supreme Court Is Reshaping America
- By: Ian Millhiser
- Narrated by: David H. Lawrence
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ian Millhiser, Vox's Supreme Court correspondent, tells the story of what the six very conservative Republicans Supreme Court justices are likely to do with their power. The Agenda exposes a radically altered Supreme Court whose powers extend far beyond transforming any individual right - its agenda is to shape the very nature of America's government, redefining who gets to have legal rights, who is beyond the reach of the law, and who chooses the people who make our laws.
-
-
short but informative
- By Amazon Customer on 10-04-21
By: Ian Millhiser
-
By the People
- Rebuilding Liberty Without Permission
- By: Charles Murray
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
American freedom is being gutted. Whether we are trying to run businesses, practice vocations, raise our families, cooperate with our neighbors, or follow our religious beliefs, we run afoul of the government - not because we are doing anything wrong but because the government has decided it knows better. When we object, that government can and does tell us, "Try to fight this, and we'll ruin you."
-
-
Finally, some possible solutions
- By Amazon Customer on 03-17-16
By: Charles Murray
-
The Conscience of a Liberal
- By: Paul Krugman
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America emerged from Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal with strong democratic values and broadly shared prosperity. But for the past 30 years, American politics has been dominated by a conservative movement determined to undermine the New Deal's achievements. Now, the tide may be turning, and in The Conscience of a Liberal Paul Krugman, the world's most widely read economist and one of its most influential political commentators, charts the way to reform.
-
-
Great Book!!!
- By carl801 on 12-04-07
By: Paul Krugman
-
The Land of Flickering Lights
- Restoring America in an Age of Broken Politics
- By: Michael Bennet
- Narrated by: Michael Bennet
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Land of Flickering Lights is a unique contribution to American political writing at this or any other time. Democratic Senator Michael Bennet from Colorado lifts a veil on Congress to reveal, in his words, "through a series of actual stories - about the people, the politics, the motives, the money, the hypocrisy, the stakes, the outcome - the pathological culture of the capitol and the consequences for us all."
-
-
The wisdom of a man committed to our ideals
- By Vikon on 08-19-19
By: Michael Bennet
-
The Everything American Government Book
- From the Constitution to Present-Day Elections, All You Need to Understand Our Democratic System
- By: Nick Ragone
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If the confusion following the last presidential election is any indication, the average citizen knows precious little about the democratic system and the laws that affect their daily lives. The Everything American Government Book unravels the complexities of our democracy and provides listeners with the knowledge necessary to make the right decisions and take an active role in the management of their country. This thoroughly researched work is ideal for anyone brushing up on civics, as well as students of all ages.
-
-
A solid understanding of local, state and national political structure...
- By Amazon Customer on 12-25-19
By: Nick Ragone