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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Narrated by:
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David Litt
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By:
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David Litt
About this listen
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 into which you were born. 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: an addictive audiobook 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.
©2020 David Litt (P)2020 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
In Why We’re Polarized, Klein reveals the structural and psychological forces behind America’s descent into division and dysfunction. Neither a polemic nor a lament, this book offers a clear framework for understanding everything from Trump’s rise to the Democratic Party’s leftward shift to the politicization of everyday culture. America is polarized, first and foremost, by identity. Everyone engaged in American politics is engaged, at some level, in identity politics.
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Good as an intro, skip if you’re a wonk
- By Tony on 01-29-20
By: Ezra Klein
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Working Class Republican
- Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism
- By: Henry Olsen
- Narrated by: Derek Shetterly
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Conventional political wisdom views the two most consequential presidents of the 20th century - FDR and Ronald Reagan - as ideological opposites. FDR is hailed as the champion of big-government progressivism manifested in the New Deal. Reagan is seen as the crusader for conservatism dedicated to small government and free markets. But Henry Olsen argues that this assumption is wrong.
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Refreshing and insightful
- By Thomas Marks on 12-16-19
By: Henry Olsen
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Big, Hot, Cheap, and Right
- What America Can Learn from the Strange Genius of Texas
- By: Erica Grieder
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Texas may well be America’s most controversial state. Evangelicals dominate the halls of power, millions of its people live in poverty, and its death row is the busiest in the country. Skeptical outsiders have found much to be offended by in the state’s politics and attitude, and yet, according to journalist and Texan Erica Grieder, the United States has a great deal to learn from Texas. In Big, Hot, Cheap, and Right, Grieder traces the political history of a state that was always larger than life. From its rowdy beginnings, Texas has combined a long-standing suspicion of government intrusion with a passion for business.
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Loved this book!
- By ccarp on 06-04-14
By: Erica Grieder
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It Was All a Lie
- How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump
- By: Stuart Stevens
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Stuart Stevens spent decades electing Republicans at every level, from presidents to senators to local officials. He knows the GOP as intimately as anyone in America, and in this new book he offers a devastating portrait of a party that has lost its moral and political compass. This is not a book about how Donald J. Trump hijacked the Republican Party and changed it into something else.
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A party gone astray
- By Devin on 08-07-20
By: Stuart Stevens
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Trumpocalypse
- Restoring American Democracy
- By: David Frum
- Narrated by: David Frum
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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A huge swath of Americans have put their faith in Trump, and Trump only, because they see the rest of the country building a future that doesn't have a place for them. If they would risk their lives for Trump in a pandemic, they will certainly risk the stability of American democracy. They brought the Trumpocalypse upon the country, and a post-Trumpocalypse country will have to find a way either to reconcile them to democracy - or to protect democracy from them.
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Trump More Dangerous Than the Axis of Evil
- By J.B. on 05-26-20
By: David Frum
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The Impostors
- How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics
- By: Steve Benen
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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The award-winning producer of The Rachel Maddow Show exposes the Republican Party as a gang of impostors, meticulously documenting how they have abandoned their duty to govern and are gravely endangering America.
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Three Card Monte Politics
- By J.B. on 06-19-20
By: Steve Benen
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Common Sense for the Common Good
- Libertarianism as the End of Two-Party Tyranny
- By: Gary E. Johnson
- Narrated by: Gary E. Johnson
- Length: 2 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Gary Johnson, Libertarian Party candidate for president and former two-term Republican governor of New Mexico, stakes his claim to the very center of the political spectrum. His new audiobook, Common Sense for the Common Good, offers his approach to how a member of a third party, acting as the chief arbiter of the US, can restore sanity and functionality to the highest office in the land.
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A refreshing voice in politics.
- By Jason on 10-20-16
By: Gary E. Johnson
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We've Got People
- From Jesse Jackson to AOC, the End of Big Money and the Rise of a Movement
- By: Ryan Grim
- Narrated by: Sean W. Stewart
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may seem like she came from nowhere, but the movement that propelled her to office - and to global political stardom - has been building for 30 years...With the party and the nation at a crossroads, this timely and original audiobook offers new insight into how we’ve gotten where we are - and where we're headed.
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Excellent and illuminating, despite tech "issue"
- By DanoB on 08-25-19
By: Ryan Grim
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Why the Right Went Wrong
- Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond
- By: E. J. Dionne Jr.
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Why the Right Went Wrong offers a historical view of the right since the 1960s. Its core contention is that American conservatism and the Republican Party took a wrong turn when they adopted Barry Goldwater's worldview during and after the 1964 campaign. Since 1968, no conservative administration could live up to the rhetoric rooted in the Goldwater movement that began to reshape American politics 50 years ago.
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Outstanding, refreshing, inspiring
- By James Adams on 03-19-16
By: E. J. Dionne Jr.
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The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents
- From Wilson to Obama
- By: Steven F. Hayward
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Academics, journalists, and popular historians agree: our greatest presidents are the ones who confronted a national crisis and mobilized the entire nation to face it. That’s the conventional wisdom. The chief executives who are celebrated in textbooks and placed in the top echelon of presidents in surveys of experts are the bold leaders - the Woodrow Wilsons and Franklin Roosevelts - who reshaped the United States in line with their grand “vision” for America. Unfortunately, along the way, these “great” presidents inevitably expanded government - and shrank our liberties.
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Really enjoyed it
- By Jkc-007 on 02-15-17
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We Should Have Seen It Coming
- From Reagan to Trump - A Front-Row Seat to a Political Revolution
- By: Gerald F. Seib
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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The executive Washington editor of The Wall Street Journal chronicles the astonishing rise, climax, and decline of the conservative movement, from the election of Ronald Reagan to the Republican Party's takeover by Donald Trump - with a new introduction covering the 2020 election and the future of the GOP.
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Brilliant!!!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-04-20
By: Gerald F. Seib
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The Centrist Manifesto
- By: Charles Wheelan
- Narrated by: Charles Wheelan
- Length: 3 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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From debt ceiling standoffs to single-digit Congress approval ratings, America’s political system has never been more polarized - or paralyzed - than it is today. As best-selling author and public policy expert Charles Wheelan writes, now is the time for a pragmatic Centrist party that will identify and embrace the best Democratic and Republican ideals, moving us forward on the most urgent issues for our nation.
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Must read for all rational americans
- By CM on 09-15-15
By: Charles Wheelan
What listeners say about Democracy in One Book or Less
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Laura Shields
- 07-31-20
Great Book, lots of Information
I thought this was good, with a lot of factual info. It was interesting but dry and hard for me to stay with at times. I enjoyed Litt’s other book so I downloaded this one. He does his research and knows the information.
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- Elan Sun Star
- 07-01-20
Incredibly brilliant and insightful
This is one of the most powerful and empowering books i have read out of many many thousands.
Everything about it is amazing and relevant and pertinent.
Making this issue and situation easy to digest and humorous as well is a rare achievement.
This is a must read book, literally,....Bravo!
DavidLit is a true luminary,..with a brilliant mind and astounding insight. teaching these principles in an edited version and making it fun and humorous as well as enlightening
Now I know who wrote some of those amazing Obama speeches , all of which I love.
I live several blocks from where Barack obama stays in kailua every year and around the corner from his new house he is building so I plan on meeting David Lit in the ocean....(I used to bodysurf with Barack Obama in the 70's at Sandy Beach and Makapuu.
Do it now (to quote)
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- andrew mahowald
- 07-13-20
A Democracy 101 MUST!
I loved it. Can not believe how much detail and history was included. My eyes have been opened as to so much of what has been going on (and going wrong!) with our democracy. Some things, like the specifics of voter suppression, demand a clear understanding by the American people so we can rise up and seize back a government that is fairly elected by the people. Bravo, Mr. Litt.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Christopher
- 04-19-21
A great listen
The author is the narrator, and he does a great job. The book was very easy to follow! It’s also a great book and provides useful anecdotes and data to explain how we get where we are and what we can do to pursue a better democracy.
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- Rachel Dee
- 10-17-20
Must Listen
Can make you feel frustrated at times with the realities of our democracy but also very entertaining. Highly recommend. I’ve literally listened to chapters of this book over and over again to make sure I really absorbed what I was listening to so I could try to educate others.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Perry M. Rogers
- 09-17-20
Great book, wish it had more action points
Great book on American Democracy and how we got to where we are right before COVID happened. My only wish is that it had more action points on how to actually fix our current situation. I was basically waiting for that the entire book and it never came. It seems to be "Get Elected" or "Become a judge" is what the author thinks the only way to affect change (Which might be true). Just not as informative on what I can actually do as a plebeian than I thought.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-06-21
more good stuff from Lips.
a little much with the lingo, but great overall. funny and informative. Glad to hear the author narrating.
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- Andy
- 10-06-20
Thanks Litt.
This was such a fun and fascinating book! It is rare prose that can get you all fired up about the past and current blows being dealt to our democracy while at the same time making you hopeful for a brighter future. I learned more in 12 hours than I did in a year of Government class.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Rian Rutherford
- 09-15-24
Excellent review, from liberal standpoint
Nice summary of American system although I think if I were conservative I would find it too biased. I like that there are recommendations to improve system, not just a laundry list of complaints without redress.
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- wordnerd
- 08-07-22
Should be taught in schools
For all of us with a less-than-stellar education in government and how it works, who didn’t major in politics or law - this books fills in the context with sometimes amusing anecdotes and a storytelling delivery. Well done to the author
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1 person found this helpful