Please join us in welcoming Dr. Dan McMillan to Concord.  

Dan founded and leads Save Democracy in America, a non-partisan campaign to get big money out of politics. He has earned a Ph.D. in German history from Columbia and a law degree from Fordham. He has taught college-level history and prosecuted criminal cases for the Brooklyn DA’s office. In 2014 Dan published an acclaimed book for the general public about why the Holocaust happened. After several years researching a book about money in politics, Dan decided that direct political action was more urgently needed and launched his campaign for Democracy Dollars.

Dan describes a common-sense solution to the biggest flaw in our political system: our government is for sale to high-dollar campaign donors, and this is not government by the people. We can help fix this problem by making ourselves the donors. This reform is called Democracy Dollars and it is gaining steam from coast to coast. Under this system, the government would give every registered voter vouchers for campaign cash. You can’t spend this money for yourself, but you will be able to give these vouchers to the candidates you want to support. Once candidates get their money from us instead of from special interests, politicians will listen to us and serve us. Republicans and Democrats both support this reform, so it’s a great opportunity to bring us together and cool off the partisan anger which threatens our democracy. 

New Hampshire voters can use their special importance in choosing our Presidents to force primary candidates and the national media to confront the money problem and Democracy Dollars as a possible solution. 

Please join the Grand Monadnock Rotary Club in welcoming Dr. Dan McMillan to Peterborough.  

Dan founded and leads Save Democracy in America, a non-partisan campaign to get big money out of politics. He has earned a Ph.D. in German history from Columbia and a law degree from Fordham. He has taught college-level history and prosecuted criminal cases for the Brooklyn DA’s office. In 2014 Dan published an acclaimed book for the general public about why the Holocaust happened. After several years researching a book about money in politics, Dan decided that direct political action was more urgently needed and launched his campaign for Democracy Dollars.

Dan describes a common-sense solution to the biggest flaw in our political system: our government is for sale to high-dollar campaign donors, and this is not government by the people. We can help fix this problem by making ourselves the donors. This reform is called Democracy Dollars and it is gaining steam from coast to coast. Under this system, the government would give every registered voter vouchers for campaign cash. You can’t spend this money for yourself, but you will be able to give these vouchers to the candidates you want to support. Once candidates get their money from us instead of from special interests, politicians will listen to us and serve us. Republicans and Democrats both support this reform, so it’s a great opportunity to bring us together and cool off the partisan anger which threatens our democracy. 

New Hampshire voters can use their special importance in choosing our Presidents to force primary candidates and the national media to confront the money problem and Democracy Dollars as a possible solution. 

Saturday, March 25, 10 am EASTERN.  Mascoma Forward will be holding a zoom meeting for purposes of caucusing to select new leadership for 2023-2024.  Dan McMillan and Olivia Zink will be the guest speakers.  The public is invited to attend.  Please email Tom Oppel for the link. 

Dan founded and leads Save Democracy in America, a non-partisan campaign to get big money out of politics. He has earned a Ph.D. in German history from Columbia and a law degree from Fordham. He has taught college-level history and prosecuted criminal cases for the Brooklyn DA’s office. In 2014 Dan published an acclaimed book for the general public about why the Holocaust happened. After several years researching a book about money in politics, Dan decided that direct political action was more urgently needed and launched his campaign for Democracy Dollars.

Dan describes a common-sense solution to the biggest flaw in our political system: our government is for sale to high-dollar campaign donors, and this is not government by the people. We can help fix this problem by making ourselves the donors. This reform is called Democracy Dollars and it is gaining steam from coast to coast. Under this system, the government would give every registered voter vouchers for campaign cash. You can’t spend this money for yourself, but you will be able to give these vouchers to the candidates you want to support. Once candidates get their money from us instead of from special interests, politicians will listen to us and serve us. Republicans and Democrats both support this reform, so it’s a great opportunity to bring us together and cool off the partisan anger which threatens our democracy. 

New Hampshire voters can use their special importance in choosing our Presidents to force primary candidates and the national media to confront the money problem and Democracy Dollars as a possible solution. 

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Dan McMillan to Portsmouth.  

Dan founded and leads Save Democracy in America, a non-partisan campaign to get big money out of politics. He has earned a Ph.D. in German history from Columbia and a law degree from Fordham. He has taught college-level history and prosecuted criminal cases for the Brooklyn DA’s office. In 2014 Dan published an acclaimed book for the general public about why the Holocaust happened. After several years researching a book about money in politics, Dan decided that direct political action was more urgently needed and launched his campaign for Democracy Dollars.

Dan describes a common-sense solution to the biggest flaw in our political system: our government is for sale to high-dollar campaign donors, and this is not government by the people. We can help fix this problem by making ourselves the donors. This reform is called Democracy Dollars and it is gaining steam from coast to coast. Under this system, the government would give every registered voter vouchers for campaign cash. You can’t spend this money for yourself, but you will be able to give these vouchers to the candidates you want to support. Once candidates get their money from us instead of from special interests, politicians will listen to us and serve us. Republicans and Democrats both support this reform, so it’s a great opportunity to bring us together and cool off the partisan anger which threatens our democracy. 

New Hampshire voters can use their special importance in choosing our Presidents to force primary candidates and the national media to confront the money problem and Democracy Dollars as a possible solution. 

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Dan McMillan to Keene.  

Dan founded and leads Save Democracy in America, a non-partisan campaign to get big money out of politics. He has earned a Ph.D. in German history from Columbia and a law degree from Fordham. He has taught college-level history and prosecuted criminal cases for the Brooklyn DA’s office. In 2014 Dan published an acclaimed book for the general public about why the Holocaust happened. After several years researching a book about money in politics, Dan decided that direct political action was more urgently needed and launched his campaign for Democracy Dollars.

Dan describes a common-sense solution to the biggest flaw in our political system: our government is for sale to high-dollar campaign donors, and this is not government by the people. We can help fix this problem by making ourselves the donors. This reform is called Democracy Dollars and it is gaining steam from coast to coast. Under this system, the government would give every registered voter vouchers for campaign cash. You can’t spend this money for yourself, but you will be able to give these vouchers to the candidates you want to support. Once candidates get their money from us instead of from special interests, politicians will listen to us and serve us. Republicans and Democrats both support this reform, so it’s a great opportunity to bring us together and cool off the partisan anger which threatens our democracy. 

New Hampshire voters can use their special importance in choosing our Presidents to force primary candidates and the national media to confront the money problem and Democracy Dollars as a possible solution. 

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).

This should be the last American election that works against the people. Kristin Eberhard, Director of Democracy at Sightline Institute, thoughtfully researched how the U.S. election system is unjust to many by design, and walks us through 10 big but practical ideas for making our elections free, fair, and secure. Now is the time:

- More than half of Americans live in just nine states. That means less than half the population controls 82 percent of the Senate. It doesn't have to be that way. We can hope the Senate eliminates the filibuster. But while we're holding our breath, what if we went further and remade the Senate to represent people?
- Voter suppression justified by trumped up fears of double voting and dead voters – why? There's already a simple, proven solution working in 30 states to keep voter lists secure and accurate.
- Feel stuck with the Electoral College reversing the popular vote? That isn't even in the Constitution! There is a path for states to ensure the candidate with the most votes wins (and we're already on it).
- We could defeat gerrymandering and create a multi-party system where voters have more options, lawmakers get more work done, and extremists are relegated to the fringe, unable to take over a major party.

A field guide to better elections for both sides of the aisle, Becoming a Democracy illuminates the meaningful, concrete actions that can transform our elections and make sure everyone's vote counts (and that they get to vote in the first place).

Author Kristin Eberhard  is a researcher, writer, speaker, lawyer and policy analyst.  She is known as a leading expert on electoral reform in the Pacific Northwest, and is considered an authority on proportional representation as well as carbon pricing.  She will join us for the first half hour of our program to discuss the book and answer your questions.

ISBN: 9781098349998
ISBN-10: 1098349997
Publisher: BookBaby
Publication Date: January 11th, 2021
Pages: 228
Language: English

Available on paperback (12.99) from Gibson's Bookstore, Toadstool Books and Water Street Bookstore as well as your favorite retailer.

We are excited to welcome bestselling author, Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times reporter and Emmy award-winning producer and correspondent Hedrick Smith to our book club for a discussion of his book Who Stole The American Dream?

In his bestselling The Russians, Smith took millions of readers inside the Soviet Union. In The Power Game, he took us inside Washington’s corridors of power. Now Smith takes us across America to show how seismic changes, sparked by a sequence of landmark political and economic decisions, have transformed America. As only a veteran reporter can, Smith fits the puzzle together, starting with Lewis Powell’s provocative memo that triggered a political rebellion that dramatically altered the landscape of power from then until today.
 
This is a book full of surprises and revelations—the accidental beginnings of the 401(k) plan, with disastrous economic consequences for many; the major policy changes that began under Jimmy Carter; how the New Economy disrupted America’s engine of shared prosperity, the “virtuous circle” of growth, and how America lost the title of “Land of Opportunity.” Smith documents the transfer of $6 trillion in middle-class wealth from homeowners to banks even before the housing boom went bust, and how the U.S. policy tilt favoring the rich is stunting America’s economic growth.
 
This book is essential reading for all of us who want to understand America today, or why average Americans are struggling to keep afloat. Smith reveals how pivotal laws and policies were altered while the public wasn’t looking, how Congress often ignores public opinion, why moderate politicians got shoved to the sidelines, and how Wall Street often wins politically by hiring over 1,400 former government officials as lobbyists.
 
Smith talks to a wide range of people, telling the stories of Americans high and low. From political leaders such as Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and Martin Luther King, Jr., to CEOs such as Al Dunlap, Bob Galvin, and Andy Grove, to heartland Middle Americans such as airline mechanic Pat O’Neill, software systems manager Kristine Serrano, small businessman John Terboss, and subcontractor Eliseo Guardado, Smith puts a human face on how middle-class America and the American Dream have been undermined.
 
This magnificent work of history and reportage is filled with the penetrating insights, provocative discoveries, and the great empathy of a master journalist. Finally, Smith offers ideas for restoring America’s great promise and reclaiming the American Dream.

Hedrick will join us for the first half hour of the meeting to discuss the book and answer your questions.

ISBN: 9780812982053
ISBN-10: 0812982053
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 27th, 2013
Pages: 624
Language: English

Available in paperback (18.00) from Gibson's Bookstore, Water Street Books, Toadstool Bookshops or your favorite retailer.

The selected title for our second Open Democracy Book Club will be One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy by Carol Anderson.  

From the award-winning, NYT bestselling author of White Rage, the startling--and timely--history of voter suppression in America, with a foreword by Senator Dick Durbin, now with a new afterword by the author.

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 more than 500 members!

Our Mission

To understand our three guiding questions, in relation to our democracy:

Where are we?

How did we get here?

What do we do about it? 

Books and Discussions

We work on a new book every six weeks or so, culminating with a discussion.   We have the author speak for 30 minutes, then break up into Zoom breakout rooms for small group discussions, usually facilitated by an Open Democracy staff member or volunteer. 

Everyone is welcome to participate, whether or not you have had the chance to read the book.  

Our Next Books have been decided for 2023!

Our first book club meeting will be January 17, 2023 at 7 pm.  We will be discussing Democracy Vouchers.  In Democracy Vouchers, Tom Latkowski shares everything you need to know to start championing this transformative campaign finance system in your city and state. 

The author will join us for the first half hour of the meeting for discussion and Q&A.  You can find the full details and RSVP HERE.

**********

On April 13th we welcome bestselling author, Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times reporter and Emmy award-winning producer and correspondent Hedrick Smith to our book club for a discussion of his book Who Stole The American Dream?

This book is essential reading for all of us who want to understand America today, or why average Americans are struggling to keep afloat. Smith reveals how pivotal laws and policies were altered while the public wasn’t looking, how Congress often ignores public opinion, why moderate politicians got shoved to the sidelines, and how Wall Street often wins politically by hiring over 1,400 former government officials as lobbyists.

Full details and RSVP HERE.

**********

On June 13th we will review Carol Anderson's One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy.  Focusing on the aftermath of Shelby, Anderson follows the astonishing story of government-dictated racial discrimination unfolding before our very eyes as more and more states adopt voter suppression laws. In gripping, enlightening detail she explains how voter suppression works, from photo ID requirements to gerrymandering to poll closures. In a powerful new afterword, she examines the repercussions of the 2018 midterm elections. And with vivid characters, she explores the resistance: the organizing, activism, and court battles to restore the basic right to vote to all Americans.  Full details and RSVP link are available HERE.

**********

On September 14, author Kristin Eberhard will join us to discuss her book Becoming a Democracy: How We Can Fix the Electoral College, Gerrymandering and our Elections.  A field guide to better elections for both sides of the aisle, Becoming a Democracy illuminates the meaningful, concrete actions that can transform our elections and make sure everyone's vote counts (and that they get to vote in the first place).  

Full details and RSVP can be found HERE.

How to Get the Book

While there's no cost for being a part of the Open Democracy Book Club, it's up to you to get the book.   On the RSVP page for each of the events, we'll post information about the book, including the author's bio and ISBN number and other info you'll need to find it.  We encourage you to order it through your local bookseller, get it from your local library but you order any way you wish.  

Prior Books

Sept 15, 2022 Daring Democracy: Igniting Power, Meaning, and Connection for the America We Want Paperback by Frances Moore Lappé (Author), Adam Eichen (Author)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" 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" by Jeff Clements

Sign Up Below

We'll notify you of the new book, the date of the discussion, and sometimes discussion questions.  You'll also be added to the Open Democracy Book Club email discussion, where you'll be able to ask questions and have discussions with your fellow readers.