Showing titles in Democracy

P.J. O’Rourke began writing funny things in 1960s underground newspapers, became editor-in-chief of National Lampoon, then spent 20 years reporting for Rolling Stone and The Atlantic Monthly as the world’s only trouble spot humorist, going to wars, riots, rebellions, and other "Holidays in Hell” in more than 40 countries.

The Great Recession, institutional dysfunction, a growing divide between urban and rural prospects, and failed efforts to effectively address immigration have paved the way for a populist backlash that disrupts the postwar bargain between political elites and citizens. Whether today's populism represents a corrective to unfair and obsolete policies or a threat to liberal democracy remains up for debate. To respond to today's crisis, good leaders must strive for inclusive economic growth while addressing social and cultural issues, including demographic anxiety, with frank attention.

A provocative, comprehensive analysis of Vladimir Putin and Russia's master plan to destroy democracy in the age of Donald Trump. In the greatest intelligence operation in the history of the world, Donald Trump was made President of the United States with the assistance of a foreign power. For...

Research polls, media interviews, and everyday conversations reveal an unsettling truth: citizens, while well-meaning and even passionate about current affairs, appear to know very little about politics. Hundreds of surveys document vast numbers of citizens answering even basic questions about government incorrectly. Given this unfortunate state of affairs, it is not surprising that more knowledgeable people often deride the public for its ignorance.

Ist unsere Demokratie noch zu retten? Das System steckt in der Krise. Liegt der Ausweg in mehr direkter Demokratie? Oder ist das Volk zu "dumm", um in wesentlichen Fragen selbst zu entscheiden? Lässt es sich zu leicht manipulieren und geht rechten Populisten auf den Leim? Wenn Außenseiter bei Wahlen erfolgreich sind, heißt es oft, die Bürger hätten "falsch" abgestimmt. Aber wer entscheidet, was "richtig" ist? In Deutschland gibt es freie Wahlen für alle erst seit gut hundert Jahren.

Forty years ago, a majority of Americans were highly engaged in issues of war and peace. Whether to go to war or keep out of conflicts was a vital question at the heart of the country's vibrant, if fractious, democracy. But American political consciousness has drifted. In the last decade, America has gone to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, while pursuing a new kind of warfare in Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and Pakistan.

Where did the ideas come from that became the cornerstone of American democracy? Not only the erudite Thomas Jefferson, the wily and elusive Ben Franklin, and the underappreciated Thomas Paine, but also Ethan Allen, the hero of the Green Mountain Boys, and Thomas Young, the forgotten Founder who kicked off the Boston Tea Party. These radicals who founded America set their sights on a revolution of the mind. Derided as "infidels" and "atheists" in their own time, they wanted to liberate us not just from one king but from the tyranny of supernatural religion.

Ancient Greece first coined the concept of democracy, yet almost every major ancient Greek thinker - from Plato and Aristotle onward - was ambivalent toward or even hostile to democracy in any form. The explanation for this is quite simple: The elite perceived majority power as tantamount to a dictatorship of the proletariat. In ancient Greece, there can be traced not only the rudiments of modern democratic society but the entire Western tradition of antidemocratic thought.

The chaotic events leading up to Mitt Romney's defeat in the 2012 election indicated how far the Republican Party had rocketed rightward away from the center of public opinion. Republicans in Congress threatened to shut down the government and force a U.S. debt default. Tea Party activists mounted primary challenges against Republican officeholders who appeared to exhibit too much pragmatism or independence. Moderation and compromise were dirty words in the Republican presidential debates. The GOP, it seemed, had suddenly become a party of ideological purity. Except this development is not new at all.

The dazzling, inimitable Molly Ivins is back, with her own personal Hall of Fame of America’s most amazing and outlandish politicians–the wicked, the wise, the witty, and the witless–drawn from more than twenty years of reporting on the folks who attempt to run our government (in some...

Miguel Ángel Revilla es uno de los políticos más admirados y escuchados por los españoles. Su cercanía y sensibilidad hacia las cuestiones que más afectan a los ciudadanos le convierten en un punto de referencia de opinión, casi siempre muy crítica, con los poderes que actúan impunemente. Desde la amplia vivencia que le aporta su experiencia y su independencia política, el principal objetivo que le ha llevado a escribir Ser feliz no es caro es ayudar a sus oyentes a entender lo que está sucediendo en nuestra sociedad y sacar el máximo partido a la vida.

Contrary to what is commonly believed, authoritarian leaders who agree to hold elections are generally able to remain in power longer than autocrats who refuse to allow the populace to vote. In this engaging and provocative audiobook, authors Nic Cheeseman and Brian Klaas expose the limitations of national elections as a means of promoting democratization and reveal the six essential strategies that dictators use to undermine the electoral process in order to guarantee victory for themselves.

"Man kann mehr erreichen, wenn man nicht in der Öffentlichkeit arbeitet." (Beate Lindemann, langjährige Geschäftsführerin der Atlantik-Brücke in Berliner Zeitung 16.1.2003). Laut Umfragen wünschen sich die meisten Deutschen eine sozial ausgewogene Politik und eine Außenpolitik unabhängig von den Großmächten in West und Ost. Trotzdem gerät unsere Sozialpolitik in immer bedenklichere Schieflage und wir werden in immer gefährlichere militärische Abenteuer der USA hineingezogen.

In The Republican Noise Machine, David Brock skillfully documents perhaps the most important but least understood political development of the last thirty years: how the Republican Right has won political power and hijacked public discourse in the United States. Brock, a former right-wing...

Alexis de Tocqueville est célèbre pour ses analyses de la révolution française, de la démocratie américaine et de l'évolution des démocraties occidentales en général...

Senator Rand Paul, leading national politician and 2016 Presidential candidate, presents his vision for America. From his electrifying thirteen-hour filibuster against administration-orchestrated drone strikes against U.S. citizens, to leading the discourse on criminal justice, Senator Rand Paul...

Intelligente Mülleimer, Kühe mit Schrittzählern, selbstfahrende Autos: Einst Fiktion, heute Fakt. Noch dazu Symptome größerer Umwälzungen, die alle Lebensbereiche betreffen und sich im Tempo geradezu überschlagen. Wer soll sich da noch auskennen? New York Times-Kolumnist Thomas L. Friedman weiß Rat.

The election of Donald Trump in 2016, like most of his campaign, came as a shock to many Americans. How could a man so lacking in capacity, so void of any intellectual heft, become the president of the United States? How could a man with no detectable personal qualities outside of resentment and the will to dominate appeal to millions of Americans, enough so that he was able to win the highest office in the land? With this book, journalist Amanda Marcotte will outline how Trump was the inevitable result of American conservatism’s degradation into an ideology of blind resentment.

Kein Plan von Politik?! Macht nix! YouTuber LeFloid stellt die Fragen, die dich wirklich interessieren. Wie geht denn jetzt eigentlich Demokratie und wie funktioniert der ganze Laden überhaupt? LeFloid sammelt Facts, hakt kritisch nach und haut mal wieder ordentlich einen raus. Typischer LeFloidHumor, CatContent (oder auch nicht) und jede Menge Politikwissen, das hängen bleibt! Los jetzt! Kopfhörer auf, Kopf an, Go Vote.

Rassismus, Fanatismus, Demokratiefeindlichkeit - Carolin Emcke, eine der wichtigsten Intellektuellen der Gegenwart, äußert sich in ihrem engagierten Essay zu den großen Themen unserer Zeit: In der zunehmend polarisierten, fragmentierten Öffentlichkeit dominiert vor allem jenes Denken, das Zweifel nur an den Positionen der anderen, aber nicht an den eigenen zulässt. Allein mit dem Mut, dem Hass zu widersprechen, und der Lust, die Pluralität auszuhalten und zu verhandeln, lässt sich Demokratie verwirklichen.