Description
Book SynopsisDemocracy rests on ten pillars. However, they have fallen in the United States because both major political parties have strayed from the concept of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. One party wants to recreate life in the past, while the other party appeals to the economic self-interest of specific groups. The coup on January 6, 2021, has prompted a fundamental analysis of what has gone wrong, but proposed corrections have failed to strengthen belief in democracy.
The fundamental pillars are of two typespreconditions and the structure of government. The preconditions are a strong middle class, a Constitutional framework supporting equal justice, a vibrant civil society, an informed citizenry, and a strong belief in democracy. The necessary governmental institutions are an independent judiciary, a legislature with integrity, a competent bureaucracy, free and fair elections, and an executive operating with civility.
According to the Mass Societ
Trade Review
“Haas’ capacious work catalogues recent cases of democratic dysfunction in America, demonstrating that the United States is now a ‘pseudo-democracy.’ The book offers a thorough description of this decline and is an important addition to the growing literature on democratic erosion and backsliding.” —Robinson Woodward-Burns, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Howard University, and Author of Hidden Laws
“Michael Haas has done a masterful job in The Ten Pillars of American Democracy>. He has identified the essential ingredients for democracy to succeed; the challenges faced by the United States in sustaining its democracy; and he has pinpointed practical steps to assure that democracy will continue. It is a book not only for these fraught times but for all times and all readers who are committed to the promotion and survival of democracy.” —Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Julius Silver Professor of Politics, NYU, and Co-author of The Dictator’s Handbook
Table of Contents
Preface – The Dilemma of Democracy – Socioeconomic Pillar – Constitutional Pillar – Judicial Independence Pillar – Legislative Integrity Pillar – Election Integrity Pillar – Bureaucratic Independence Pillar – Presidential Civility Pillar – Civil Society Pillar – Informed Citizen Pillar – Democratic Ideology Pillar – Summary and Conclusion– Index.
