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 800 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 2026 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.

Our next book:

On Thursday, June 12, 2025 at 7pm, we will be joined by author Russell Muirhead, who will discuss his book Ungoverning: The Attack on the Administrative State and the Politics of Chaos.  

Previous Books  (recordings of most can be found on our YouTube channel)

• Tuesday, April 15, 2025 100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting*, by Miles Rapoport
• Thursday, February 13, 2025 Tyranny of the Minority*, by Stephen Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
• December 11, 2024 Democracy Awakening*, by Heather Cox Richardson
• September 24, 2024 Democracy in Black, by Eddie S. Glauer, Jr
• 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.

In order for us to efficiently get you all relevant information, please tell us what types of emails communications you would like to receive. 

If you previously "opted out" either intentionally or accidentally, please go here for instructions or help on rejoining our membership list. 

Carol Shea-Porter, Chair. – former member of Congress (D-NH); politics and history teacher; founder of a non-profit social service agency

John Broderick – former Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court; former Executive Director of the Rudman Center at University of New Hampshire Law School

Brad Cook – partner and past President of Sheehan Phinney Law Firm; Chair of the New Hampshire Ballot Law Commission

Lew Feldstein – past President of the NH Charitable Foundation; co-author of Better Together: Restoring the American Community

Paul Hodes – former member of Congress (D-NH); attorney; member, National Council on the Arts; founder of the Economic Innovation Institute

Joe Magruder – former News Editor, Associated Press of New Hampshire

Lillye Ramos Spooner – Director of Operations for Greater Manchester AIDS Project; former member of the NH Commission on the Status of Women

Stephen Reno – Executive Director of Leadership New Hampshire; former Chancellor of the University System of New Hampshire

John Rauh – former President of Americans for Campaign Reform, now part of Issue One; former Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate

Jim Rubens – entrepreneur; former Republican candidate for U.S. Senate; former New Hampshire state Senator

Betty Tamposi – Assistant Secretary of State under George H.W. Bush; as a state Representative, was Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee; former member of the Board of Governors of the University of New Hampshire

Dan Weeks  – co-owner of ReVision Energy; former Executive Director of Open Democracy

** Affiliations listed for identification purposes only. Advisory Board members serve in their individual capacities.