Search results for ""Author Ganesh Sitaraman""

Over the last four decades, neo-liberalism has been the force shaping America and the world, its logic of the market applied to every aspect of life. But now, amid a new Gilded Age of inequality and economic stagnation, and in the wake of Donald Trump's election, it is clear that the neo-liberal era has come to an end. The central question of our time is what comes next.In The Great Democracy, professor of law and progressive policy expert Ganesh Sitaraman argues that the only way forward is more democracy. If America wishes to avoid avoid a future characterised by Trump's oligarchic nationalism - or a warmed-over version of the failed neo-liberal ideas that brought us Trump in the first place - we will need not only to protect and expand political democracy but also to realise true economic democracy in America for the first time in our history. Sitaraman outlines a bold political vision for a "new democracy" resting on three main pillars: (1) protecting and extending political democracy, so that the political process leads to outcomes that represent all Americans, (2) realising an unprecedented level of economic democracy by combating economic inequality and (3) forging social solidarity in a diverse nation, to ensure a united democracy. He proposes policies to achieve these ends, ranging from compulsory voting to statehood for Puerto Rico and other US territories to aggressive regulation of big tech companies to a national service program and a National Endowment for Journalism. At a time when American politics is in disarray, The Great Democracy demonstrates persuasively that we must choose to build a new era of robust democracy, offering a compelling call to action and a realistic road map for achieving it. It is time to play hardball in service of democracy, Sitaraman argues and to win the fight against oligarchy once and for all.

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A solution to inequalities wherever we look—in health care, secure retirement, education—is as close as the public library. Or the post office, community pool, or local elementary school. Public options—reasonably priced government-provided services that coexist with private options—are all around us, ready to increase opportunity, expand freedom, and reawaken civic engagement if we will only let them.Whenever you go to your local public library, send mail via the post office, or visit Yosemite, you are taking advantage of a longstanding American tradition: the public option. Some of the most useful and beloved institutions in American life are public options—yet they are seldom celebrated as such. These government-supported opportunities coexist peaceably alongside private options, ensuring equal access and expanding opportunity for all.Ganesh Sitaraman and Anne Alstott challenge decades of received wisdom about the proper role of government and consider the vast improvements that could come from the expansion of public options. Far from illustrating the impossibility of effective government services, as their critics claim, public options hold the potential to transform American civic life, offering a wealth of solutions to seemingly intractable problems, from housing shortages to the escalating cost of health care.Imagine a low-cost, high-quality public option for child care. Or an extension of the excellent Thrift Savings Plan for federal employees to all Americans. Or every person having access to an account at the Federal Reserve Bank, with no fees and no minimums. From broadband internet to higher education, The Public Option reveals smart new ways to meet pressing public needs while spurring healthy competition. More effective than vouchers or tax credits, public options could offer us all fairer choices and greater security.

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