Description
Book SynopsisToday’s democracies suffer from two mutually reinforcing ills: declining problem-solving capacities and a growing disconnect between the people and political elites.
Reconstructing Democracy offers case studies in citizen efficacy, showing how people can solve problems locally and thereby quell the frustrations that demagogues prey on.
Trade ReviewThis is an urgent manifesto for the reconstruction of democratic belonging in our troubled times. In their theorizing of democracy as a resonant dynamic of local engagements, civic practices, and forms of collective agency, Charles Taylor, Patrizia Nanz, and Madeleine Beaubien Taylor offer robust philosophical and empirical solutions to the deep need for reestablishing a sense of trust in citizen participation and solidarity. -- Davide Panagia, author of
The Political Life of SensationReconstructing Democracy at first glance seems modest in its scope and aim, but it is actually quite ambitious. Taylor, Nanz, and Taylor find compelling examples of how engagement by citizens with other citizens at the most basic level of discussion and consultation can reshape communities, and in reshaping communities, reform the public sphere. The various citizen councils, grassroots organizers, and NGOs they highlight are those that don’t simply listen to citizens but encourage their active participation. The effect is to open up a fresh range of ideas for enabling ordinary citizens to shape the priorities of the places where they live. -- Thomas Dumm, author of
Home in AmericaThis little book serves as a reminder of what’s missing from public life. -- Scott McLemee * Inside Higher Ed *
