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Scary as hell. And makes me want to punch Newt Gingrich.
3.5 of 5. Interesting book with lots of great points and ideas but somehow not grabbing. I guess that's the risk of writing books for the middle-ground even if they come to the conclusion that much of what is going on in United States national politics right now can be pointed to be the fault of the Republican party.
The solutions were pretty interesting. They included making voting mandatory (either with a small fine for not voting or a small tax credit for voting or an election lottery), Australian ballots, open primaries (top two advance). The filibuster change was interesting - basically it forced the minority party to do more work - voting with at least 40 votes to continue filibuster. And there were more.
I think making the senate hold system no longer private would help.
Read this if you are interested in possibilities for better US government - but don't read it expecting a completely engaging argument. But it would be a good book to start a discussion from.
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I find that the book stuck with me and would be worth re-reading. As such I'm bumping my rating from a 3 to a 4.
The solutions were pretty interesting. They included making voting mandatory (either with a small fine for not voting or a small tax credit for voting or an election lottery), Australian ballots, open primaries (top two advance). The filibuster change was interesting - basically it forced the minority party to do more work - voting with at least 40 votes to continue filibuster. And there were more.
I think making the senate hold system no longer private would help.
Read this if you are interested in possibilities for better US government - but don't read it expecting a completely engaging argument. But it would be a good book to start a discussion from.
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I find that the book stuck with me and would be worth re-reading. As such I'm bumping my rating from a 3 to a 4.
This was a good read. It covers a bit of history of discord within congress and the growing actions of Republicans from attempting to govern to being obstructionists, even with bills they supported because "the other side" agreed. The authors also come up with some good solutions to the particular challenges we face, and that includes the voter.
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Even as an ardent leftist, I wish that this wasn’t so skewed
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Read a condensed version of this book. Their predications from 2011 of how bad things could get would be funny if they didn't turn out to be true. A sad indictment of our political climate. One paragraph stood out in particular because they had no idea how bad things would get. Under the heading of "Changing the Political Culture":
"Trashing others, undermining their very legitimacy, and lying openly and repeatedly about individuals or institutions now bring no visit penalty or public obloquy. In fact, it can mean fame and fortune. Changing the country's poisonous culture, which has metastasized beyond the political area, requires first an effort to restore some semblance of public shame."
Well, we all know how well that worked out. This book is basically a "it can't get worse" written five years before it got worse than the authors could ever imagine. An interesting look back to when we thought, wrongly, that we had bottomed out.
"Trashing others, undermining their very legitimacy, and lying openly and repeatedly about individuals or institutions now bring no visit penalty or public obloquy. In fact, it can mean fame and fortune. Changing the country's poisonous culture, which has metastasized beyond the political area, requires first an effort to restore some semblance of public shame."
Well, we all know how well that worked out. This book is basically a "it can't get worse" written five years before it got worse than the authors could ever imagine. An interesting look back to when we thought, wrongly, that we had bottomed out.
informative
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
Great look at the problems facing our political system with concrete supporting evidence & interesting proposals to fix things.
I was particularly interested in the ideas on electoral reform & how a third-party would negatively affect American politics.
Didn't feel a bias in the presentation, just a reflection of facts with plenty of historical indicators to support it.
I was particularly interested in the ideas on electoral reform & how a third-party would negatively affect American politics.
Didn't feel a bias in the presentation, just a reflection of facts with plenty of historical indicators to support it.