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Republic, Lost: Version 2.0—Part 1: The Flaw
- How Money Corrupts Congress—and a Plan to Stop It
- Narrated by: Lawrence Lessig
- Length: 2 hrs and 45 mins
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Publisher's summary
Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig investigates the most vexing problem in American democracy: how money corrupts our nation's politics, and the critical campaign to stop it.
In an era when special interests funnel huge amounts of money into our government—driven by shifts in campaign-finance rules and brought to new levels by the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission—trust in our government has reached an all-time low. More than ever before, Americans believe that money buys results in Congress, and that business interests wield control over our legislature.
With heartfelt urgency and a keen desire for righting wrongs, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig takes a clear-eyed look at how we arrived at this crisis: how fundamentally good people, with good intentions, have allowed our democracy to be co-opted by outside interests, and how this exploitation has become entrenched in the system. Rejecting simple labels and reductive logic—and instead using examples that resonate as powerfully on the Right as on the Left—Lessig seeks out the root causes of our situation. He plumbs the issues of campaign financing and corporate lobbying, revealing the human faces and follies that have allowed corruption to take such a foothold in our system. He puts the issues in terms that nonwonks can understand, using real-world analogies and real human stories. And ultimately he calls for widespread mobilization and a new Constitutional Convention, presenting achievable solutions for regaining control of our corrupted—but redeemable—representational system. In this way, Lessig plots a roadmap for returning our republic to its intended greatness.
While America may be divided, Lessig vividly champions the idea that we can succeed if we accept that corruption is our common enemy and that we must find a way to fight against it. In Republic Lost, he not only makes this need palpable and clear—he gives us the practical and intellectual tools to do something about it.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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As an academic, Lessig has the research chops to find the anecdotes that best fit the narrative case he's making, and to lay them out in wonderful detail. But his real gift is in the art of stringing them together into a story. That means that this book is as persuasive as it is enjoyable to read.—Alesh Houdek, The Atlantic
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America emerged from Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal with strong democratic values and broadly shared prosperity. But for the past 30 years, American politics has been dominated by a conservative movement determined to undermine the New Deal's achievements. Now, the tide may be turning, and in The Conscience of a Liberal Paul Krugman, the world's most widely read economist and one of its most influential political commentators, charts the way to reform.
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Great Book!!!
- By carl801 on 12-04-07
By: Paul Krugman
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The People vs. Democracy
- Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It
- By: Yascha Mounk
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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The world is in turmoil. From India to Turkey and from Poland to the United States, authoritarian populists have seized power. As a result democracy itself may now be at risk. Two core components of liberal democracy - individual rights and the popular will - are at war with each other. As the role of money in politics soared and important issues were taken out of public contestation, a system of "rights without democracy" took hold. Populists who rail against this say they want to return power to the people. But in practice they create a system of "democracy without rights."
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Not worth it
- By DailyShopper on 06-07-18
By: Yascha Mounk
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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 Power and Independence of the Federal Reserve
- By: Peter Conti-Brown
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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The independence of the Federal Reserve is considered a cornerstone of its identity, crucial for keeping monetary policy decisions free of electoral politics. But do we really understand what is meant by "Federal Reserve independence"? Using scores of examples from the Fed's rich history, The Power and Independence of the Federal Reserve shows that much common wisdom about the nation's central bank is inaccurate.
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Meandering, gossipy, a bit pop-journalistic
- By Philo on 10-03-16
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The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution
- Why Economic Inequality Threatens Our Republic
- By: Ganesh Sitaraman
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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For most of Western history, Sitaraman argues, constitutional thinkers assumed economic inequality was inevitable and inescapable - and they designed governments to prevent class divisions from spilling over into class warfare. The American Constitution is different. Compared to Europe and the ancient world, America was a society of almost unprecedented economic equality, and the founding generation saw this equality as essential for the preservation of America's republic.
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Very well done
- By JLyman on 08-27-17
By: Ganesh Sitaraman
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Corruption in America
- From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United
- By: Zephyr Teachout
- Narrated by: Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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For two centuries, the Framers' ideas about political corruption flourished in the courts, even in the absence of clear rules governing voters, civil officers, and elected officials. In the 1970s, the U.S. Supreme Court began to narrow the definition of corruption, and the meaning has since changed dramatically. No case makes that clearer than Citizens United.
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Law Review+
- By Ben P. on 01-02-17
By: Zephyr Teachout
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The Best Worst President
- What the Right Gets Wrong About Barack Obama
- By: Mark Hannah
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Political analyst and Democratic campaign veteran Mark Hannah gives Barack Obama the victory lap he deserves in this compendium that takes the president's critics head-on and celebrates the president's many underappreciated triumphs.
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Thought-provoking
- By Jean on 07-11-16
By: Mark Hannah
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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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Theodore and Woodrow
- How Two American Presidents Destroyed Constitutional Freedom
- By: Andrew Napolitano
- Narrated by: Scott Moore
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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A harsh and revealing political exposé of two beloved presidents. Judge Andrew P. Napolitano reveals how Teddy Roosevelt, a bully, and Woodrow Wilson, a constitutional scholar, each pushed aside the Constitution’s restrictions on the federal government and used it as an instrument to redistribute wealth, regulate personal behavior, and enrich the government. Theodore and Woodrow exposes two of our nation’s most beloved presidents and how they helped speed the Progressive cause on its merry way.
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The Case Against Theodore and Woodrow...
- By Joseph D. Klotz on 03-12-13
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Power Grab
- The Liberal Scheme to Undermine Trump, the GOP, and Our Republic
- By: Jason Chaffetz
- Narrated by: Jason Chaffetz
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In Power Grab, Chaffetz pulls back the curtain on the world of hypocrisy, political intrigue, and procedural malfeasance that is Washington, DC. With stories you won't hear anywhere else, he shows how the left weaves false narratives, drums up investigations in search of a crime, and refuses to direct congressional oversight towards its appropriate target: the government. Democrats weaponize nonprofit advocacy groups and monetize partisan anger to line the pockets of their political allies.
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Power Grab
- By Margaret on 10-01-19
By: Jason Chaffetz
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Democracy in One Book or Less
- How It Works, Why It Doesn’t, and Why Fixing It Is Easier Than You Think
- By: David Litt
- Narrated by: David Litt
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Thanks Litt.
- By Andy on 10-06-20
By: David Litt
What listeners say about Republic, Lost: Version 2.0—Part 1: The Flaw
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Clay
- 05-22-17
History of our government and corruption of it
It took a while to get through, but it was a good book. The ideas put forth are interesting. This book definitely explains why things are so corrupt in U.S.A. The corrupt bribery campaign finance system. how would you even start to fix it? Revoloution somehow? I say that because all of the politicians getting kickbacks would try to stop this correction.
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- S. Hanig
- 10-02-19
eye opening
get the money it of campaigning, or at least make it very different. Brief, but good book
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- P. Cohen
- 04-14-24
Interesting Narrative
The book begins by noting that the federal government is locked into inaction by the presence of so many checks on power that it cannot accomplish anything. It promotes the idea that polarization is a root cause, but it fails to consider that the two-party system may be what is at the root of this polarization; instead he tracks down the real problem to be solved which is campaign financing.
The solution is therefore to reform campaign financing somehow. Presumably this is something hat the gridlocked federal government must carry out.
It occurs to me that a more promising possibility would be to reform the way we vote so that the two-party system would be undermined. This would have to happen state by state, but given the gridlocked federal government it might be a better approach. Lessig doe make a short pitch for ranked-choice voting, but there is little reason to think that would end the two-party duopoly; at least the example of Australia suggests otherwise.
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