Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Holiday reads: A handful of books offer to get you in the election year spirit

Three political books: The Politics Industry, A Real Right to Vote, The Primary Solution

There are a number of great political books to consider as gifts this holiday season.

LaRue writes at Structure Matters. He is former deputy director of the Eisenhower Institute and of the American Society of International Law.

Looking for a good book to give or read over the holidays? Want one that can deliver hope and perspective before the primaries kick off election-year frenzy, if not depression? Here are a few that do just that, from offering reminders that the nation always digs itself out of the polarized holes it creates to charting viable possibilities for the future of our democratic republic.


Robert Putnam’s "The Upswing” (2020) is a good place to start. He strengthens the cyclical frame many analysts use to explain political periods by describing the pattern as being an upward, diagonal spiral rather than a mere pendulum swaying from progress to retrogression and back. His is a compelling case that the U.S. cycle is nearing its next low point. (the prior one was just before The Progressive Era started what would become a half-century of notable progress)

Treating the symptoms of today’s political divisions is vital but ultimately incomplete; the causes also require attention and repair, the deepest of which are constitutional. The fact that amendments happen at all can inspire as well as discourage, which Jonathan Kowal and Wilfred Codrington reveal in "The People’s Constitution” (2021). They entertainingly inform the full history of amendments and bring to light the conditions necessary to achieve or pursue such change. For example, the Constitution has commonly been called “impossible” to amend or “unamendable” as little as a decade and a half before it is amended, as occurred in the Gilded Age before amendments in 1913 gave us an income tax and direct election of senators.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

For a fascinating thought experiment on amendments, Beau Breslin’s "A Constitution for the Living” (2021) posits what American history may have looked like had constitutional conventions been scheduled as Thomas Jefferson preferred. Wisely, Breslin’s schedule (five in 230 years) is not as frequent as Jefferson suggested (one every generation), and his rich counterfactual offers retrospective insights on what big national change could look like.

And critical notions that are not constitutional can still be foundational. Richard Haass’s "The Bill of Obligations” (2023) posits a Bill of Rights equivalent for the roles and duties of citizenship. The success of our democratic enterprise rests on public involvement in civic affairs, and Haass tightens our understanding of such needs by articulating 10 of them, from being informed and getting involved, to rejecting violence and valuing norms.

Voting is fundamental to democracy, and thus understandably central to many books and proposals related to electoral reform (disclosure: including my own). Election law expert Richard Hasen will publish "A Real Right To Vote” early in 2024 (available by pre-order), arguing for an amendment guaranteeing the right to vote. Hasen has long advocated for an affirmative amendment, describing why it would be more effective than the hodgepodge of “negative” amendments we have now that assert that the right to vote cannot be denied on this or that basis. Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky also lead their recommendations in "Tyranny of the Minority” (2023) with such a proposed amendment.

E.J. Dionne Jr. and Miles Rapoport take a different approach, advocating for universal civic duty voting (“100% Democracy,” 2022). They argue for adapting the mandatory voting successfully used in Australia, Belgium and elsewhere to increase turnout consequentially and thereby solidify the foundational base for the government erected above it. They do so while still preserving voters’ right not to vote (i.e., “none of the above”) or write in their own candidates.

There are plenty more books to recommend, such as Robert Alexander’s "Representation and the Electoral College” (2019), which provides an informed critique of this antiquated, anti-democratic institution, and stands with those by George Edwards and Alexander Keyssar. And, for solutions to the corrosive problem of partisan primaries empowering political fringes, there is "The Politics Industry” (2020) by Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter. Nick Troiano will build on their work in his forthcoming "The Primary Solution” in 2024 (also available via pre-order).

The good news is that such forward thinking is happening now. The stage is being set. The meaningful through-lines from today’s democratic struggles to tomorrow’s democratic vision are not one-directional; they are only created through their interaction and need for each other.

Happy holidays, and happy reading.

Read More

Trump Must Take Proactive Approach to AI and Jobs

Build a Software Development Team to Running Your Business Growth. Software Engineers on the project discuss a database design workflow and technical issues in a tech business office.

Getty Images//Stock Photo

Trump Must Take Proactive Approach to AI and Jobs


Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly disrupting America’s job market. Within the next decade, positions such as administrative assistants, cashiers, postal clerks, and data entry workers could be fully automated. Although the World Economic Forum expects a net increase of 78 million jobs, significant policy efforts will be required to support millions of displaced workers. The Trump administration should craft a comprehensive plan to tackle AI-driven job losses and ensure a fair transition for all.

As AI is expected to reshape nearly 40% of workers’ skills over the next five years, investing in workforce development is crucial. To be proactive, the administration should establish partnerships to provide subsidized retraining programs in high-demand fields like cybersecurity, healthcare, and renewable energy. Providing tax incentives for companies that implement in-house reskilling initiatives could further accelerate this transition.

Keep ReadingShow less
Teen girl reading unpleasant messages on mobile phone
Juan Algar/Getty Images

Holiday cards vs. the never-ending barrage of social media

“How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.” — Annie Dillard

There was a time, not so long ago, when holiday cards were the means by which acquaintances updated us on their lives. Often featuring family photos with everyone dressed up, or perhaps casual with a seaside or mountainside backdrop, it was understood this was a “best shot” curated to feature everybody happily together.

Those holiday cards were eagerly opened, shared and even saved. Occasionally they might broach boundaries of good taste, perhaps featuring a photo of the sender’s new Lexus shining brightly as the Christmas star, or containing more pages than an IKEA assembly pack and listing the fifth grader’s achievements. But most of the time these cards conveyed the annual family update and welcome holiday cheer.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dictionary entry for "democracy"
Lobro78.Getty Images

Paving the path forward to strengthening democracy

Kristina Becvar and David L. Nevins, co-publishers of The Fulcrum, announced recently that effective Jan. 1, Hugo Balta, The Fulcrum’s director of solutions journalism and DEI initiatives, will serve as executive editor. What follows is a message from Balta about his new responsibility.

In the aftermath of this year’s contentious presidential election, it is imperative to heal a democracy fractured by polarization, emphasizing the importance of dialogue, accountability, and inclusive and transparent governance.

Journalism plays a pivotal role in upholding democratic values and ensuring the health of democratic systems. As our country faces complex challenges, the significance of a free and independent press becomes increasingly evident.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hugo Balta

The Fulcrum's new executive editor: Hugo Balta

As co-publishers of The Fulcrum, we are proud to announce that, effective Jan. 1, Hugo Balta, The Fulcrum’s director of solutions journalism and DEI initiatives, will serve as executive editor.

Hugo is an award-winning, 30-year multimedia journalism veteran with multiple market and platform experience, including leadership positions in NBC, Telemundo, ABC, CBS, and PBS, among other storied news networks. A nationally recognized diversity in journalism advocate, he is the recipient of the 2024 Cecilia Vaisman Award from Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Hugo is the only person to serve twice as president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Hugo and his family live in Chicago.

Keep ReadingShow less