Civics & Citizenship

The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century....

From America’s favorite government teacher, a “fascinating and fun” (Adam Grant) portrait of twelve ordinary Americans whose courage formed the character of our country.

The #1 New York Times bestseller, now in an expanded audiobook edition that includes detailed historical context for the democracy-threatening Ukrainian conflict and a call to action for modern times....

Democracy Awakening is more than a history book; it’s a vital and urgent call to action about the precarious state of American democracy, charting its historical challenges and current threats, from one of our era’s most important and insightful historians, with a new afterword by the author.

The most powerful woman in American political history tells the story of her transformation from housewife to House Speaker—how she became a master legislator, a key partner to presidents, and the most visible leader of the Trump resistance.

From trailblazing Michigan governor and rising Democratic star Gretchen Whitmer comes an unconventionally honest, personal, and funny account of her remarkable life and career.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian explains, with electrifying clarity, why elites in democracies around the world are turning toward nationalism and authoritarianism....

Human history is full of the stories of peasants, subjects, and tribes. Yet the concept of the “citizen” is historically rare — and was among America’s most valued ideals for over two centuries....

From politics and religion to workplace negotiations, ace the high-stakes conversations in your life with this indispensable guide from a persuasion expert....

America has always been a nation of laws. But today our laws have grown so vast and reach so deeply into our lives that it’s worth asking: In our reverence for law, have we gone too far?

The movement that brought Donald Trump to the White House has better ideas than the old right or the new left. It's time that the rest of America started listening....

First published in 1971, Rules for Radicals is Saul Alinsky's impassioned counsel to young radicals on how to effect constructive social change....

From your friends at Pod Save America comes a useful guide to saving American democracy just in time for the 2024 election and 2025 insurrection....

Michael J. Sandel shows how a surer grasp of philosophy can help us to make sense of politics, morality, and our own convictions as well....

After almost every presentation activist and writer Mia Birdsong gives to executives, think tanks, and policy makers, one of those leaders quietly confesses how much they long for the profound community she describes....

One of the nation's preeminent scholars and a New York Times bestselling author, Eddie S. Glaude Jr., makes the case that the hard work of becoming a better person should be a critical feature of Black politics.

One of Barack Obama’s longest-serving speechwriters reveals the public speaking lessons that will help you become a more confident and compelling communicator and leader.

You can bring about positive, lasting change in the world, and you don’t have to be rich and famous or lead a big organization to do it....

Michigan Senator Mallory McMorrow details her unlikely journey into politics with a front-row seat to democracy at its breaking point—then outlines the tangible, proven steps that anyone can take to build community, fight for what's right, and create real, lasting change.

Comedian and TV and radio host John Fugelsang offers a deeply irreverent and Biblically correct takedown of the far-right and their co-opting of religion, and guide to engaging them in effective conversational combat, in the spirit of Bill Maher and Christopher Hitchens.

Originally published in 2014, this updated edition of The Revolt of the Public includes an extensive analysis of Donald Trump's improbable rise to the presidency and the electoral triumphs of Brexit and concludes with a speculative look forward....

Many people today find that their prayers don't work. And like a broken cell phone, DVD player, or TV remote, they throw prayer out as unnecessary clutter in their busy lives....

A damning confrontation between the American dream and the reality of undocumented children seeking a new life in the US....

In Love Your Enemies, New York Times best-selling author and social scientist Arthur C. Brooks shows that treating others with contempt and out-outraging the other side is not a formula for lasting success....

A timely collection of speeches by David McCullough, the most honored historian in the United States, that reminds us of fundamental American principles....

Arguing that global communications have fragmented national cultures and that multiculturalism, intended to reduce social frictions, is today reinforcing them, Sacks argues for a new approach to national identity, making the case for "integrated diversity" within a framework of shared political values. Britain, he argues, will have to construct a national narrative as a basis for identity, reinvigorate the concept of the common good, and identify shared interests among currently conflicting groups.

Most Americans are likely to encounter the effects of government malfeasance or neglect close to home—from their governors, mayors, town councils, school boards, police, and prosecutors. In fact, deals shrouded in darkness are regularly made at the state and local levels, often the result of closed-door discussions between governments and industry without any scrutiny whatsoever from the public.

Be the Hero! Contribute to your community in the most valuable way by making 9-1-1 work. 9-1-1 is a joke only because we don't force our government to do better. Your emergency services manager will whine that they can't, but that is just lack of commitment. It only takes money, and a little knowledge. In this book is the knowledge; now, make them find the money.

Feel empowered—not overwhelmed—by today’s political landscape. Showing Up for Democracy is an engaging, optimistic guide proving that small actions can make a real difference—starting in your community. This book isn’t about politics—it’s about PEOPLE. It’s about YOU. In a time when local politics and democratic governance are often lost in the chaos of social media, this book offers a clear path forward. Move beyond the noise and take meaningful steps to protect values like freedom of speech and equality.

Progressive activism today is increasingly spearheaded by the nation's youngest voters. Gen Z—those born between 1997 and 2012—has come of age in a decade of upheavals. They have witnessed the election of Donald Trump, the murder of George Floyd, and the Dobbs Supreme Court decision, and they have lived under the constant threats of mass shootings and climate change. In response, left-leaning Zoomers, particularly women and LGBTQ people, have banded together to take action.