Making America a Democracy Again : How to Fix Our Political Dysfunction

This book is designed for readers who are frustrated with politics as usual and looking for solutions. It identifies an often-overlooked cause for the country's political extremism-the winner-take-all nature of American politics. The book then draws on examples from our own history and contemporary European countries for solutions.

Americans suffer greatly from political extremism. Yet people come to different conclusions about its causes. Observers cite presidential overreach, congressional gridlock, judicial partisanship, and other obstacles to good governance. In Making America a Democracy Again, David Orentlicher identifies a critical problem – the winner-take-all nature of American politics. In America, even when the public is closely divided, the prevailing candidate gains the entire power of the office. Presidents exercise all the immense authority of their office even when they win by a mere number of votes. Orentlicher argues that winner-take all politics is fundamentally unfair in a country that promises a government for all the people. The book proposes reforms to ensure that power is shared and elected officials work together to promote the welfare of all, drawing insights from American history and contemporary European countries for solutions. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.