In 2020, in some of the darkest days of the COVID pandemic, one of our Open Democracy Team members proposed an "Open Democracy Book Club."  To our surprise, 300 citizens registered for the first book and discussion in January.   Certainly, the pandemic gave us some time at home to read, but the hunger to learn about the problems and how to fix them was there already. Our Book club now has more than 650 members!

Our Mission

 Each time we address these three guiding questions about our democracy through the books chosen:

Where are we?

How did we get here?

What do we do about it?

Help us select Open Democracy Book Club’s 2025 selections - here!

Four times a year we read and discuss a new book. When possible, we have the author speak for 30 minutes. Then we are divided into breakout rooms for small group discussions, returning to the main group at the end to share ideas and pool resources. Everyone is welcome to participate, whether or not you have had a chance to read the book.

To Join the Book Club - Sign Up Below

You will be added to the Open Democracy Book Club email list, where members receive updates about upcoming books, guests, and discussion questions.

We are on our third book in the 2024 season!  (NOTE: We will be taking the summer off)

On September  at 7pm we will review and discuss Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul, by Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.   RSVP HERE

Previous Books

• April 11, 2024 Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy*, by Jamie Raskin
• January 16, 2024 The Scheme: How the Right Wing Used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court, by Sheldon Whitehouse and Jennifer Mueller
• September 14, 2023 Becoming A Democracy, How We can Fix the Electoral College, Gerrymandering and Our Elections* by Kristin Eberhard
• June 13, 2023 One Person, No Vote by Carol Anderson
• April 13, 2023 Who Stole The American Dream?*  Hedrick Smith
• January 17, 2023 Democracy Vouchers* by Tom Latkowski
• Sept 15, 2022 Daring Democracy: Igniting Power, Meaning, and Connection for the America We Want* with Frances Moore Lappé & Adam Eichen 
• June 9, 2022 The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee
• April 14, 2022  How Democracies Die  by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
• Jan 13, 2022 Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America* with Nancy MacLean
• Oct 14, 2021 Our Time is Now by Stacey Abrams
• May 27, 2021 The Politics of Joy (and Sacrifice): The Fearless Walks and Historic Talks of Doris ‘Granny D’ Haddock*, a compilation of inspiring speeches given by Doris with Dennis Burke
• Apr 15, 2021 They Don't Represent Us* with Lawrence Lessig
• March 4, 2021 Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy* with David Daley
• January 21, 2021 Corporations are Not People: Reclaiming Democracy from Big Money and Global Corporations* with Jeff Clements

*Denotes author participation

Recordings of previous book club meetings here.

High School Voter Registration Drives Fellowship

Application and description HERE.

How do I apply?

Email Olivia Zink [email protected] expressing your interest with a resume and cover letter to apply to either position.

Open Democracy is committed to an inclusive democracy movement. As such, we are an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to recruiting, hiring, training, promoting and administering any and all personnel actions without regard to gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, age, national origin, religion, economic status, or ability, or any other legally protected status, and will not tolerate discrimination or harassment.

Coalition for Open Democracy | 4 Park Street, Suite 301 | Concord, NH 03301 | 603.715.8197 www.OpenDemocracyNH.org| [email protected]