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.

Did you opt out of our mailing list, but want to get back on?   You may have intended to, or perhaps you did it by accident.   Stuff happens. 

But in either case, you may "opt in" again by filling out the form below (it may auto-fill for you) and clicking the "Send me email updates,"  (required) or "Send me text message updates" (optional, but suggested).  

This is a one-time fix.  After that it requires us to delete your records and start over again, and we'll lose the history that you have with us such as donations and the events you've attended.   Not the end of the world, but we'd like to avoid that.

Should you have any questions, please contact Doreen at 603-608-6211.