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Democracy in one book or less : how it works, why it doesn't, and why fixing it is easier than you think
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2020
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Library Journal Review
It's not your mother's democracy anymore, and not even yours. Since 1980, the number of Americans legally barred from voting has more than doubled. Since the 1990s, the chance of your living in a competitive congressional district has plummeted by more than half. Since 2000, the money spent on lobbying has increased by more than 100 percent. How to bring back democracy? New York Times best-selling author Litt talks to activists and politicians nationwide. With a 300,000-copy first printing.
Publishers Weekly Review
In this snappy and well-informed dissection of the current state of American democracy, Obama administration speechwriter Litt (Thanks, Obama) claims that "our representative government may be representing someone, but it isn't us." Combining solid historical analysis, substantive political science, and wry humor, Litt examines myriad ways that "politics have changed for the worse" over the past 40 years and offers issue-by-issue suggestions for reform. He documents a 500% increase since the 1970s in the number of Americans disenfranchised because of a felony conviction, notes that "60 percent of U.S. senators are elected by just 24 percent of the voters," and compares America's low voter turnout to the rest of the world ("We're slightly ahead of Latvia. So that's nice."). Litt also laments the "rightward lurch" of Republican lawmakers and their judicial appointments, the loosening of campaign finance restrictions, the influence of corporate lobbyists on policy making, and the obstructionism of Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell. The author's ideas "to stop the decay of our republic" include automatic voter registration, ranked choice voting, and requiring a Supreme Court supermajority to overturn federal law. Both optimistic and clear-eyed, this quip-filled call to action will resonate strongly with young progressives. Agent: Daniel Greenberg, Levine Greenberg Rostan (June)
Booklist Review
Litt's (Thanks, Obama, 2017) comprehensive study of what a democracy actually consists of casts a welcome, cleansing beam of light on a subject that has become increasingly murky and frustratingly confusing. Although the process of deciding who shall govern and how has never been particularly transparent, history shows that this opacity has often been as much by constitutional construct as by political expediency. From voting rights disenfranchisement to the labyrinthine logic behind the Electoral College, Litt covers every aspect of American governance and politics at perspectives both granular and big-picture, analyzing what's right and wrong with our democracy through historical and contemporary lenses. Power gaps matter as much as political geography in conducting elections and drafting legislation; influence peddling has become a megalithic industry; and the era of bipartisan handshake agreements is but a quaint memory. A senior presidential speechwriter in the Obama administration, 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.
Kirkus Review
Former White House speechwriter and humorist Litt digs in deep to discuss what's ailing us politically--and gets in a few laughs along the way. The author begins with an amusing guerrilla action that demands a John Belushi to play it onscreen: namely, trying to bust his way into Mitch McConnell's fraternity at the University of Kentucky. Why? Because somewhere in those roots lies the development of a political system that does not represent the people or reflect the consent of the governed in the slightest, giving rise to a polity most of whose members do not trust the government to act correctly, with those who do "roughly the number of Americans who believe in Bigfoot." The genius of the system McConnell authored, Litt rightly observes, is that thanks to gerrymandering and polarization, there are practically no political consequences inherent in ignoring the wishes of the electorate. The fixes are pretty simple, or at least some are. If you're not a voter, Litt suggests, then you don't really count, and if you don't vote, then you cede the field to the boomers who went for the current occupant of the White House. "Along nearly every dimension," Litt writes, "the average voter looks more like Donald Trump than the average American does." Only a mass turnout of the young--the author is in his 30s--will change that picture. Just so, because so many minority voters have been disenfranchised, voters are wealthier than nonvoters, acquiescent in congressional and presidential acts that benefit the rich. The irony is that we now have a tyranny of the minority--an easy fix if only the majority will act, in part by throwing out McConnell, for whom "our dysfunctional legislature is working just fine." A pleasure to read, even in its darkest moments, and refreshingly optimistic about the future of the republic. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Summary

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.

Table of Contents
A Note Regarding Facts (on the theory that they still exist)p. ix
Introduction: Brother Mitchp. 1
Part IWho Gets to Vote?
1The Drawing of Lots: The Non-Votersp. 17
2Rick Versus Ricky: The Officially Disenfranchisedp. 29
3The Sasquatch Hunters: The Unofficially Disenfranchisedp. 57
4How to Plan a Fyre Festival: The Discouragedp. 85
Part IIWhose Votes Matter?
5Take a Shit with Irv Litt: The Geography of Gerrymanderingp. 121
6Ms. Codfish's Classroom: The "Great Compromise"p. 151
6 1/2An Appendix: The Electoral Collegep. 177
7Old Sheldon: The Campaign Finance Systemp. 189
Part IIIWhich Ideas Become a Law?
8I'm Just a Doomed Bill: The House of Representativesp. 225
9The Spartan Retention of the Body's Juices: The Senatep. 255
10Possum Kingdom: The Lobbyistsp. 285
11Slapping Stephen Field: The Judgesp. 317
Epilogue: Unity Placep. 355
Acknowledgmentsp. 367
Suggested Readingp. 371
Indexp. 375
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