A stellar group of America's leading political thinkers explore how to reboot our democracy

The presidential election of 2016 highlighted some long-standing flaws in American democracy and added a few new ones. Across the political spectrum, most Americans do not believe that democracy is delivering on its promises of fairness, justice, shared prosperity, or security in a changing world. The nation cannot even begin to address climate change and economic justice if it remains paralyzed by political gridlock.

Democracy Unchained is about making American democracy work to solve problems that have long impaired our system of governance. The book is the collective work of thirty of the most perceptive writers, practitioners, scientists, educators, and journalists writing today, who are committed to moving the political conversation from the present anger and angst to the positive and constructive change necessary to achieve the full promise of a durable democracy that works for everyone and protects our common future. Including essays by Yasha Mounk on populism, Chisun Lee on money and politics, Ras Baraka on building democracy from the ground up, and Bill McKibben on climate, Democracy Unchained is the articulation of faith in democracy and will be required reading for all who are working to make democracy a reality.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

David W. Orr

Part I. The Crisis of Democracy

Populism and Democracy

Yascha Mounk

Reconstructing Our Constitutional Democracy

K. Sabeel Rahman

Restoring Healthy Party Competition

Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson

When Democracy Becomes Something Else: The Problem of Elections and What to Do About It

Andrew Gumbel

The Best Answer to Money in Politics After Citizens United: Public Campaign Financing in the Empire State and Beyond

Chisun Lee

Remaking the Presidency After Trump

Jeremi Suri

The Problem of Presidentialism

Stephen Skowronek

Part II. Foundations of Democracy

Renewing the American Democratic Faith

Steven C. Rockefeller

American Land, American Democracy

Eric Freyfogle

Race and Democracy: The Kennedys, Obama, Trump, and Us

Michael Eric Dyson

Liberty and Justice for All: Latina Activist Efforts to Strengthen Democracy in 2018

Maria Hinojosa

What Black Women Teach Us About Democracy

Andra Gillespie and Nadia E. Brown

Engines of Democracy: Racial Justice and Cultural Power

Rashad Robinson

Civic and Environmental Education: Protecting the Planet and Our Democracy

Judy Braus

The Supreme Court's Legitimacy Crisis and Constitutional Democracy’s Future

Dawn Johnsen

Part III. Policy Challenges

Can Democracy Survive the Internet?

David Hickton

The New New Deal: How to Reregulate Capitalism

Robert Kuttner

First Understand Why They're Winning: How to Save Democracy from the Anti-Immigrant

Far Right

Sasha Polakow-Suransky

No Time Left: How the System Is Failing to Address Our Ultimate Crisis

Bill McKibben

Powering Democracy Through Clean Energy

Denise G. Fairchild

The Long Crisis: American Foreign Policy Before and After Trump

Jessica Tuchman Mathews

Part IV. Who Acts, and How?

The Case for Strong Government

William S. Becker

The States

Nick Rathod

Democracy in a Struggling Swing State

Amy Hanauer

Can Independent Voters Save American Democracy? Why 42 Percent of American Voters Are Independent and How They Can Transform Our Political System

Jaqueline Salit and Thom Reilly

Philanthropy and Democracy

Stephen B. Heintz

Keeping the Republic

Dan Moulthrop

The Future of Democracy

Mayor Ras Baraka

Building a University Where All People Matter

Michael M. Crow, William B. Dabars, and Derrick M. Anderson

Biophilia and Direct Democracy

Timothy Beatley

Purpose-Driven Capitalism

Mindy Lubber

Restoring Democracy: Nature's Trust, Human Survival, and Constitutional Fiduciary Governance 397

Mary Christina Wood

Conclusion

Ganesh Sitaraman