Social Democracy

First he considers moments in history - Periclean Athens, the English Civil War, the American and French Revolutions, among them - in which the challenges we face today were first encountered and what solutions, however imperfect, were found. Then he lays bare the specific problems of democracy in the 21st century and maps out a set of urgently needed reforms. With the advent of authoritarian leaders and the simultaneous rise of populism, representative democracy appears to be caught between a rock and a hard place, yet it is this space that it must occupy, says Grayling, if a civilised society that looks after all its people is to flourish.

In American history, the prevailing narratives of the tumultuous late-nineteenth century focus on wealthy individuals and tycoons while downplaying the very high social and economic stresses they caused. The Age of Discontent reveals that it was not the tycoons, but rather the laborers and farmers, who in a great uprising of popular democracy reinvented the nation for the emerging industrial world never imagined by the Founders.

Written during the 1920s, an era that reflects much of our modern times 100 years later, this book by culture critic and scholar Mencken dissects what democracy is. The book’s three parts are “Democratic Man,” “The Democratic State” that includes a chapter on popular will and a chapter on politicians, and “Democracy and Liberty” with a section on corruption under democracy, followed by a “Coda” that discusses the future of democracy.

In 1776, the United States of America was born from a document that declared all men created equal and free to choose who they serve in this world. What followed was a difficult fight against a monarchy, a fight that ended with the creation of a powerful country built on the tenets of freedom and equality. These documents are some of the foundational writings from the earliest days of the country that have shaped the United States government for centuries.

Überall in Europa und mit Trump auch in den USA gewinnen Rechtspopulisten massiv an Unterstützung und gefährden die liberale Demokratie. Ihr Ziel ist die schrittweise Aushöhlung der demokratischen Institutionen, um ihre eigene Agenda durchzusetzen: gegen Migration, gegen die EU, gegen die vermeintlichen »Eliten«, für einen autoritär regierten Nationalstaat, in dem die freiheitliche Rechtsordnung zunehmend ausgehebelt wird. Ihre augenöffnende Recherche zeigt unter einem Brennglas, welcher Gefahr Deutschland gegenübersteht.

Wie entsteht die Anziehungskraft von Populisten? Huub Buijssen erklärt die psychologischen Mechanismen, wann und warum Menschen auf populistische Ideen reagieren. Anhand von Beispielen aus den Niederlanden, Deutschland, Österreich und den USA zeigt er, welche Ängste und Moralvorstellungen besonders anfällig dafür machen.
Um die aktuellen politischen Entwicklungen besser zu verstehen und Gefahren zu erkennen, ist dieses Buch unverzichtbar. Die Erkenntnisse u.a.

The United States wasn't built as a democracy. The Senate doesn't represent people. Both sides hate gerrymandering and the courts refuse to fix it. Our right to be heard is defeated by voter suppression and an Electoral College system that concentrates power in a handful of states and too often reverses the popular vote. But within our flawed system, we have the tools to tackle our most stubborn election problems by flexing state and local power (no constitutional amendments or courts required).

From 1953 to 1969, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren brought about many of the proudest achievements of American constitutional law. The Warren Court declared racial segregation and laws forbidding interracial marriage to be unconstitutional; it expanded the right of citizens to criticize public officials; it held school prayer unconstitutional; and it ruled that people accused of a crime must be given a lawyer even if they can't afford one. Yet conservative critics have fiercely accused the justices of the Warren Court of abusing their authority....

Have lawmakers helped themselves while helping the country? After the nation's financial crisis led Congress to unprecedented economic intervention, The Washington Post began an investigation that pierced the secrecy of the deeply flawed financial disclosure system that governs the 535 men and women who draft the nation's laws. Members of Congress directed millions of dollars to infrastructure projects near their residences and businesses, in some cases paving roads in front of their houses.

Democracy is, by its very nature, often rude. But there are limits to how uncivil we should be. In the 2010 edition of Rude Democracy, Susan Herbst explored the ways we discuss public policy, how we treat each other as we do, and how we can create a more civil national culture. She used the examples of Sarah Palin and Barack Obama to illustrate her case. In a new preface for this 2020 edition, the author connects her book to our current highly contentious politics and what it means for the future of democratic argument.

In an era when democracy is at critical risk, is it reasonable to expect the education system, already buckling under the ordeal of a global pandemic, to solve the converging problems of inequality, climate change, and erosion of trust in government and science? Will more civics instruction help? In Can Schools Save Democracy? Michael J. Feuer offers a new approach to addressing these questions with a strategy for improving the process and substance of civic education.

The problems of the 21st century are of unprecedented scale. Climate change, financial instability, the housing crisis, the need for health care: all of these are political issues that could be managed with ease on a much smaller scale. But with an enormous global population, that kind of change is no longer an option.

In this book, America's favorite satirists take you into a world you might have thought was beyond parody—politics. From closed-door meetings of bureaucrats deciding the fates of millions to preposterous lies from the campaign trail, The Bee skewers our political overlords with matchless wit. In this guide, you’ll learn how to rig an election, how to stage an insurrection, which political party you should join, and more—everything you need to fully participate in the worst political system of all time (except for all the others).

Demokratie ist nie statisch, sondern dynamisch. Sie lebt durch die Menschen, die ununterbrochen an ihr arbeiten. Wer wüsste das besser als Michel Friedman. In einer Zeit, in der Demokratie und Menschenrechte von Extremisten und Autokraten täglich angegriffen werden und Demokratien in Teilen von illiberalen Demokraten als autoritären und totalitären Führungen übernommen wurden, ruft er dazu auf, nicht nur mutig zu diskutieren, sondern auch endlich zu handeln – zugunsten von Freiheit und Menschenrechten.

Nino Haratischwili – international gefeierte Bestsellerautorin und Theatermacherin – ist nicht nur eine der wichtigsten literarischen Stimmen der deutschsprachigen Literatur, sie ist auch eine der wichtigsten politischen deutschsprachigen Autorinnen unserer Zeit. Aktuell ist unsere Zeit geprägt von politischer Aggression und einem gesellschaftlichen Klima des Hasses, Umbrüche und konkreter kriegerischer Bedrohung.

American Democracy’s Last Stand: Propaganda, Cult Loyalty, and the Politics of Power is a comprehensive, deeply researched examination of the forces reshaping America’s political landscape in the wake of Donald Trump's second term. Through an exploration of historical precedents, psychological manipulations, and the alarming rise of authoritarian tactics, this book offers a critical analysis of how propaganda, cult-like loyalty, and the relentless pursuit of power have pushed the nation to a dangerous crossroads.

Ethical leadership, steeped in integrity and fairness, matters. The future of our nation and our world depends upon the quality of America's character. In this uncompromising, absorbing look at our government and society today, Jill Long Thompson persuasively argues that we all have a meaningful role to play in shaping America's character and future. The citizenry, as well as their elected officials, are responsible for protecting fairness of participation and integrity in elections, as well as in the adoption and execution of laws.

The political landscape has never been so tumultuous: issues with the electoral college, gerrymandering, voter suppression, and a lack of representation in the polls and in our leadership have led to Americans of all ages asking, How did we get here? The power to change lies with the citizens of this great country - especially teens! Rather than pointing fingers at people and political parties, You Call This Democracy? looks at flaws in the system - and offers a real way out of the mess we are in.

The United States is in a partisan gridlock. As our constitutional principles erode away and the decline of civic engagement threatens the foundation of American democracy, navy veteran turned preservation leader Michael Bedenbaugh presents a compelling vision for the future of our country.

We’re often told that disinformation is everywhere and that it’s endangering our democracy. But what if the war on disinformation itself is really just a weapon to squash any and all legitimate dissent? The Information State is an incisive examination of how we reached the point where...