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A Return to Common Sense: How to Fix America Before We Really Blow It
A political book for non-political people from viral TikTok sensation PoliticsGirl.
Something’s gone wrong in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. We can all feel it, but if we’re being honest, most of us don’t understand it. At the end of the day, we don’t have all the facts, and if you don’t know how something works, how do you fix it?
A Return to Common Sense is a concise, no-nonsense, dare we say fun, guide to how America works and a roadmap to reclaiming a government of, by, and for the people.
If we truly want to be a land of freedom and opportunity where everyone has a shot at a good life, we must acknowledge the ideals of America are in danger, but worth saving. We fought a revolutionary war for the idea of self-governance and pursuit of happiness—we can’t just give up on it now.
To address the crisis, Leigh McGowan offers Six American Principles. Six ideals, rooted in history, that we can all agree make America, America.
1. America is a land of freedom.
2. Everyone should have the opportunity to rise.
3. Every citizen should have a vote, and that vote should count.
4. Representatives should represent the people who elected them.
5. The law applies to all of us.
6. Government should be a force for good.
Using the Six Principles as guideposts, this book will lay out suggestions for America, to not only find its way out of the mess it’s currently in, but to set a course for a future of which we can all be truly proud.
It’s time to find the courage to step out of our comfort zones and off our team benches to reboot America. If we start here, we start strong.
We can fix this, but the way forward starts with understanding.
Something’s gone wrong in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. We can all feel it, but if we’re being honest, most of us don’t understand it. At the end of the day, we don’t have all the facts, and if you don’t know how something works, how do you fix it?
A Return to Common Sense is a concise, no-nonsense, dare we say fun, guide to how America works and a roadmap to reclaiming a government of, by, and for the people.
If we truly want to be a land of freedom and opportunity where everyone has a shot at a good life, we must acknowledge the ideals of America are in danger, but worth saving. We fought a revolutionary war for the idea of self-governance and pursuit of happiness—we can’t just give up on it now.
To address the crisis, Leigh McGowan offers Six American Principles. Six ideals, rooted in history, that we can all agree make America, America.
1. America is a land of freedom.
2. Everyone should have the opportunity to rise.
3. Every citizen should have a vote, and that vote should count.
4. Representatives should represent the people who elected them.
5. The law applies to all of us.
6. Government should be a force for good.
Using the Six Principles as guideposts, this book will lay out suggestions for America, to not only find its way out of the mess it’s currently in, but to set a course for a future of which we can all be truly proud.
It’s time to find the courage to step out of our comfort zones and off our team benches to reboot America. If we start here, we start strong.
We can fix this, but the way forward starts with understanding.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 17, 2024
371 people are currently reading
2792 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 131 reviews
October 9, 2024
I follow McGowan on social media (Politics Girl) and have always been impressed with her knowledge and her amazing ability to articulate complex issues in a way most can understand. With that in mind, I wanted to check out her book, thinking I'd probably just hear things I've already heard her speak on.
But, wow. This is an amazing compilation of civics 101 and should be read by every high school student and most adults. It was a fabulous review of how our government is structured, how it's evolved over the years and how it's running off the rails in a variety of ways. This could not be a more timely treatise on our current situation, especially as many of our fellow citizens don't appear to understand how the branches of government work (or don't) and who's responsible for what and why that all matters when we vote.
McGowan covers a lot of ground in this relatively short and engaging book. Among those topics are the electoral college, income disparity, gerrymandering, systemic racism, the filibuster, the intersection of religion with government, the loss of freedoms, the evolution of SCOTUS and how it's removing rights rather than adding them, and how our country compares with other developed nations in taking care of its citizens. She discusses how social programs that benefit people are not "socialism", how the loss of freedom for one group puts other groups at risk of the same thing down the road, how voter suppression efforts are causing people to lose their voice in government, how capping the number of congressional seats resulted in a representative being the voice of far too many people to really be the voice of anyone, and how SCOTUS might be due for a change that removes the potential for partisanship and money to influence decisions (her suggestions sound very good to me).
McGowan's reasoning is sound and is based on historical context and the intent of the original framers, while recognizing our culture has changed tremendously in the meantime. While most of those who identify as "democrats" will find much to appreciate in this book, and most who identify as "republican" may not, she ends her book speaking directly to those doubters. She asks that they consider, "What if you're wrong? What if those you trust are lying to you?", and asks them to research some of what she offers for followup. At one point she offers that it is our adopted "identities" that keep us locked into particular ways of thinking, behaving and voting, and suggests that if we adopted the identity of "American" instead, people with more in common than differences, we might be able to pull together in a way that protects that which we most value and fight against the forces trying to tear us apart to serve their own desires and intentions. I have seen us do just that at times (September 11th?) and know this is possible.
Fabulous book, just like her Politics Girl segments. Well worth the time to spend with it.
But, wow. This is an amazing compilation of civics 101 and should be read by every high school student and most adults. It was a fabulous review of how our government is structured, how it's evolved over the years and how it's running off the rails in a variety of ways. This could not be a more timely treatise on our current situation, especially as many of our fellow citizens don't appear to understand how the branches of government work (or don't) and who's responsible for what and why that all matters when we vote.
McGowan covers a lot of ground in this relatively short and engaging book. Among those topics are the electoral college, income disparity, gerrymandering, systemic racism, the filibuster, the intersection of religion with government, the loss of freedoms, the evolution of SCOTUS and how it's removing rights rather than adding them, and how our country compares with other developed nations in taking care of its citizens. She discusses how social programs that benefit people are not "socialism", how the loss of freedom for one group puts other groups at risk of the same thing down the road, how voter suppression efforts are causing people to lose their voice in government, how capping the number of congressional seats resulted in a representative being the voice of far too many people to really be the voice of anyone, and how SCOTUS might be due for a change that removes the potential for partisanship and money to influence decisions (her suggestions sound very good to me).
McGowan's reasoning is sound and is based on historical context and the intent of the original framers, while recognizing our culture has changed tremendously in the meantime. While most of those who identify as "democrats" will find much to appreciate in this book, and most who identify as "republican" may not, she ends her book speaking directly to those doubters. She asks that they consider, "What if you're wrong? What if those you trust are lying to you?", and asks them to research some of what she offers for followup. At one point she offers that it is our adopted "identities" that keep us locked into particular ways of thinking, behaving and voting, and suggests that if we adopted the identity of "American" instead, people with more in common than differences, we might be able to pull together in a way that protects that which we most value and fight against the forces trying to tear us apart to serve their own desires and intentions. I have seen us do just that at times (September 11th?) and know this is possible.
Fabulous book, just like her Politics Girl segments. Well worth the time to spend with it.
November 23, 2024
4.5-5⭐️ To be honest, even the super voters among us could use a refresher or two. Leigh McGowan, also known as @politicsgirl does a phenomenal job of laying out the 6 core American principals: freedom, opportunity, representation and the importance of your vote, the law, government for good. And through each of these lenses she walks us through both the founding of the government, and how each branch works, where we went horribly wrong and how to course correct before it’s too late.
🎧 This book is terrific on audio narrated by McGowan herself. She is a master at laying out facts and arguments in a way that’s easy to grasp and her audiobook is no different. The structure and organization of her book makes the audio very easy to follow even if you don’t have a physical or ebook copy nearby.
Thank you Atria Books for the gifted physical ARC and an e-ARC through Edelweiss.
🎧 This book is terrific on audio narrated by McGowan herself. She is a master at laying out facts and arguments in a way that’s easy to grasp and her audiobook is no different. The structure and organization of her book makes the audio very easy to follow even if you don’t have a physical or ebook copy nearby.
Thank you Atria Books for the gifted physical ARC and an e-ARC through Edelweiss.
September 9, 2024
This book couldn't be more timely. Ms. McGowan lays out a strong case why "We don’t need to make America great again. We need to make America great, and that starts with living up to its promise that everyone should have the opportunity to rise." She observes, "The truth is, we built this nation on noble goals but a shaky foundation, and it’s coming back to haunt us." There are many problems and she comes bearing suggestions (solutions) with sound supporting arguments.
Her six principles we need to adopt:
Principle 1: America is a Land of Freedom
Principle 2: Everyone Should Have the Opportunity to Rise
Principle 3: Every Citizen Should Have a Vote, and That Vote Should Count
Principle 4: Representatives Should Represent the People Who Voted for Them
Principle 5: The Law Applies to All of Us
Principle 6: Government Should Be a Force for Good
Simple, right? Obvious? Dare we say, Common Sense? Well, she did, so we can, too. Simple, obvious, and yet so hard. And principles one wing is working hard to subvert.
The background of the Constitution, the government and (basic) operation came off to me as written for a younger audience. Far too many adult citizens/voters seem to need the basics, so unsmarting it down isn’t a bad thing - though I would be surprised if they actually read this (those are the ones who sorely need to, more’s the pity.) And if they do, she preempts the keyboard anti-reason crowd: "It’s not hard to check what I’m saying. I check what I’m saying."
But, she starts hitting hard right after and as the book progresses. Her chapter on Principle 3 is a master class on what the Republicans have done to suppress fair voting - there are details (and references, though in my review copy they had yet to be finalized*.) "Republicans have realized they can no longer win purely on ideas or candidates, so instead of adjusting their unpopular policies, or picking better candidates, they’ve turned their attention to voting itself and are engaging in a multipronged attack on our democracy. If you can’t win based on the rules, change the rules so your opponent can’t win. They have chosen to lead, or more specifically rule, without input from the people, and are doing everything they can to erode our democratic norms and civil liberties to keep power in their own hands."
And I thought her solutions presented to bring representation up to the 21st century brilliant. And her takedown of SCOTUS, "You can see it by asking, Is this court expanding or limiting who and what is protected? Is it giving rights or taking them away? Is it liberty and justice for all, or liberty and justice for some?", slides off their Teflon robes. Her solution to turn SCOTUS into an actual judicial body not in the pockets of billionaires or an easy strategic mark for unconstitutional cases and decisions is also quite brilliant.
Many notes to sift. Lots to ponder. I need to get a final copy of this to keep and loan. (My review copy came courtesy of the publisher through Edelweiss. ) Recommended.
* The reference notes are of the form that are not cited in the body text, a form I do not like because the reader doesn't know to look for the references until the end and then has to go back and find/reread the section to get the context. It's an inconvenience and to me an annoyance (And I have yet to find the term for the form. Anybody?)
Curated notes and observations:
[Lagging infrastructure] How is it that we call ourselves a first world country, but our trains and airports look like we still live in the 1960s, our roads are a mess, and a fair amount of people in “the richest country in the world” can’t afford a place to live?
{The truth hurts.}
[No kings for us] America was built in opposition to hereditary rule. In contradiction to a monarchy, which is why anyone who says “I alone can fix it” should feel deeply un-American to you
{Can't get more un-American than the 78yo 45.}
[Freedom is not what we say it is] America is not unique. There are lots of countries in the world with "freedom." In fact on the 2023 Human Freedom Index, America doesn’t even crack the top 10, so we need to ask ourselves, when we say “freedom,” what are we actually talking about?
{Don't know? She tells you. Read the book.}
[Ah, the "A" word] Americans are offered freedom from tyranny, not freedom from accountability.
{And yet... some (one in particular) are so not held accountable for their actions, what they say, slander, lies, criminal acts...}
[The separation is gone, and that is bad] So, you might ask, if our government was created to represent all the people of the United States, no matter their faith, or lack thereof, why then is “God” on our money? Good question—and I think a pretty striking error that should be addressed.
{It sure would be nice to have freedom from religion, but that's not their business model. Belive what you want, practice how you want, but do not impose your religion on everyone else.}
[The Agenda is Real] So, if we don’t want to see a reimagining of the federal government using religious doctrine, antithetical to the founding principles of our nation, it shouldn’t matter our voting preference, religious affiliation, or personal beliefs. It’s essential we recognize Project 2025 for the threat it is. America was predicated on a constitution, a secular body of laws that derives its power from the will of the people. If we pivot to reestablish our government based on religious doctrine, from a specific sect of Christianity, then we can kiss American freedoms goodbye. [...] Project 2025 is not just a list of stated ideals, but a detailed strategic playbook on how to dismantle the government so the far right can effectively enact its extremist agenda without interference. This isn’t hyperbolic, it’s what all the Republican presidential candidates signed on for.
{I've read some of it. They are quite thorough in their scorched earth Plan.}
[ (NOT) all people are created equal, according to some] So, America never passed a universal healthcare bill or acknowledged, as our peer nations did, that health care was a basic human right, because there were people in our government who simply couldn’t get their heads around giving health care to everyone because that “everyone” would include Black people. In fact, when you look at it, it’s amazing how many things we don’t have in this country because some white lawmaker, or donor, didn’t want Black people to have it.
{More hurting truths. }
[quotable] I often think of the author John Green’s statement about government-funded education where he said, Public education does not exist for the benefit of students or the benefit of their parents. It exists for the benefit of the social order. We have discovered as a species that it’s useful to have an educated population. Which is why I like to pay taxes for schools, even though I don’t personally have a kid in school: It’s because I don’t like living in a country with a bunch of stupid people.
{My note to self was, "Quote this"}
[Saint Ronnie's legacy, part of it, anyway] Reagan’s whole concept of “trickle-down economics,” this idea that money given to the wealthy through tax cuts and market deregulation would eventually make its way down to the worker, has been completely debunked as of 2023. We were told that the economy would be like a tower of champagne glasses, where you pour champagne into the top glass and all the glasses underneath end up getting filled, when in reality, trickle-down economics was more like the top glass just kept getting bigger in order to take in more champagne, while the glasses underneath were left practically empty and cracking under the weight.
[Another quotable] As Jon Stewart said, “We’re not going bankrupt in this country because of our taxes. We’re going bankrupt because of all the things we pay for out of pocket that other countries pay for with taxes.”
[Nefarious] Now, gerrymandering is something both parties do, but the Republican Party uses it far more readily than the Democrats. Republican legislators are responsible for drawing the maps in nineteen states whose 117 districts make up 41 percent of seats in the US House of Representatives, while Democratic state legislatures are only responsible for drawing 49 districts in seven states whose representatives make up about 11 percent of the House.
[It gets worse...] You could go down a rabbit hole with everything the Republicans have been doing to democracy in North Carolina, and you’d find it heartbreaking and morally and ethically wrong, but it’s also currently completely legal, and just one of the Republican-controlled states that participates in this behavior.
[See?] As of 2024, we’ve had 446 restrictive bills passed by a legislative committee, and 119 voter-suppression laws enacted since 2021. Many of the states enacting these laws tend to be states where voting was already restrictive, and prior to the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act, previously would have required “preclearance” to change their voting laws. To be clear, the Republican response to record voter turnout in 2020 was to make sure it never happened again. To unleash a tsunami of bogus “election integrity laws” at the state level that will restrict access to voters they don’t want voting, and to throw out or overturn votes they don’t want counted. In fact, for a powerful network of conservatives, voting restrictions are now viewed as the political life-or-death debate.
[Spoiler alert, we have a broken system] The Electoral College is simply no longer democratically fair. In a country with more than 330 million people and only 538 electoral votes, the small and medium states are overrepresented at the expense of the large ones. There’s also an economic imbalance. The fifteen most prosperous states in the nation generally have the largest populations whose House members represent hundreds of thousands more people than smaller-state House members, and they have a total of thirty senators, which equates to thirty electoral votes. While the thirty-five states with smaller economic activity and populations, have seventy senators, which equates to seventy electoral votes. So the smaller, less prosperous states have disproportionate power to not only dictate national policy, but to choose the president.
[Are you sitting down?] From 1790 to 1910, the House of Representatives added seats to Congress after every census. [...] So, after the 1920 Census the House stopped growing, and by 1929 Congress made it permanent by passing a law to cap the size of the House of Representatives at 435 seats. [...] We had fewer than 100 million people living in the United States in 1910. In the 2020 Census, America had over 330 million people, but we still have the exact same number of representatives. That means a single congressmember who used to represent around 200,000 people now represents approximately 700,000 people, with some congressmembers representing close to a million people.
[A solution they will fight to kill] House Resolution 622 (H.R. 622), a bill that would grow the House to 585 seats for the 2030 redistricting. [...] big states like California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania would greatly increase their House representation and allow them to be more in line with the number of people who live and work in those states.
[Marginalization without Representation] There was a time when New York had forty-three representatives in the House. Today it has twenty-six. California lost a House member after the 2020 Census, despite having a population of almost forty million people. For reference, it would take twenty-two states with the smallest populations to even get to forty million people, which means California is hopelessly underrepresented in the federal government. But this isn’t just a big-state problem. Take Delaware, for example. In 2020 it had a population of 989,948, while Montana had a population of 1,084,225. However, because of how representatives are allotted, Delaware stayed at one House seat, while Montana was given a second. So, despite the fact that the two states have almost the exact same population, Montana has double the House representation
[A Senate flaw...] Without the filibuster, we could conceivably put bills on the Senate floor that Republicans and Democrats could vote on together because they didn’t need to vote as a bloc to represent their party; they needed to vote as individuals to represent their state.
[Another Inconvenient Truth]
I think it’s fair to say the Citizens United decision was the tipping point event that shifted American political influence away from the people and toward wealthy donors and corporations.
{This might be the worse decision of all because it paid ... uh, paved... the way for future judicial rape and pillage.}
[Stinging rebuke] The people who paid for this court, who spent forty years working diligently to reshape the judiciary in their own image, have been rewarded mightily. The goal was to turn back the clock. To reverse the progress the country had made on everything from voting rights to workers’ rights, and they’re succeeding. This isn’t a partisan statement, simply a factual observation.
{Bought. Factual observation.}
[The Oppressors] People blame identity politics on Democrats, on women, on the LGBTQIA and BIPOC communities, but real identity politics doesn’t come from those who have been forced into their identity through marginalization, but from those who put them in that box in the first place. Real identity politics comes from those whose identities have always run politics. Those who feel the ground shift under their superiority don’t like the feeling.
Her six principles we need to adopt:
Principle 1: America is a Land of Freedom
Principle 2: Everyone Should Have the Opportunity to Rise
Principle 3: Every Citizen Should Have a Vote, and That Vote Should Count
Principle 4: Representatives Should Represent the People Who Voted for Them
Principle 5: The Law Applies to All of Us
Principle 6: Government Should Be a Force for Good
Simple, right? Obvious? Dare we say, Common Sense? Well, she did, so we can, too. Simple, obvious, and yet so hard. And principles one wing is working hard to subvert.
The background of the Constitution, the government and (basic) operation came off to me as written for a younger audience. Far too many adult citizens/voters seem to need the basics, so unsmarting it down isn’t a bad thing - though I would be surprised if they actually read this (those are the ones who sorely need to, more’s the pity.) And if they do, she preempts the keyboard anti-reason crowd: "It’s not hard to check what I’m saying. I check what I’m saying."
But, she starts hitting hard right after and as the book progresses. Her chapter on Principle 3 is a master class on what the Republicans have done to suppress fair voting - there are details (and references, though in my review copy they had yet to be finalized*.) "Republicans have realized they can no longer win purely on ideas or candidates, so instead of adjusting their unpopular policies, or picking better candidates, they’ve turned their attention to voting itself and are engaging in a multipronged attack on our democracy. If you can’t win based on the rules, change the rules so your opponent can’t win. They have chosen to lead, or more specifically rule, without input from the people, and are doing everything they can to erode our democratic norms and civil liberties to keep power in their own hands."
And I thought her solutions presented to bring representation up to the 21st century brilliant. And her takedown of SCOTUS, "You can see it by asking, Is this court expanding or limiting who and what is protected? Is it giving rights or taking them away? Is it liberty and justice for all, or liberty and justice for some?", slides off their Teflon robes. Her solution to turn SCOTUS into an actual judicial body not in the pockets of billionaires or an easy strategic mark for unconstitutional cases and decisions is also quite brilliant.
Many notes to sift. Lots to ponder. I need to get a final copy of this to keep and loan. (My review copy came courtesy of the publisher through Edelweiss. ) Recommended.
* The reference notes are of the form that are not cited in the body text, a form I do not like because the reader doesn't know to look for the references until the end and then has to go back and find/reread the section to get the context. It's an inconvenience and to me an annoyance (And I have yet to find the term for the form. Anybody?)
Curated notes and observations:
[Lagging infrastructure] How is it that we call ourselves a first world country, but our trains and airports look like we still live in the 1960s, our roads are a mess, and a fair amount of people in “the richest country in the world” can’t afford a place to live?
{The truth hurts.}
[No kings for us] America was built in opposition to hereditary rule. In contradiction to a monarchy, which is why anyone who says “I alone can fix it” should feel deeply un-American to you
{Can't get more un-American than the 78yo 45.}
[Freedom is not what we say it is] America is not unique. There are lots of countries in the world with "freedom." In fact on the 2023 Human Freedom Index, America doesn’t even crack the top 10, so we need to ask ourselves, when we say “freedom,” what are we actually talking about?
{Don't know? She tells you. Read the book.}
[Ah, the "A" word] Americans are offered freedom from tyranny, not freedom from accountability.
{And yet... some (one in particular) are so not held accountable for their actions, what they say, slander, lies, criminal acts...}
[The separation is gone, and that is bad] So, you might ask, if our government was created to represent all the people of the United States, no matter their faith, or lack thereof, why then is “God” on our money? Good question—and I think a pretty striking error that should be addressed.
{It sure would be nice to have freedom from religion, but that's not their business model. Belive what you want, practice how you want, but do not impose your religion on everyone else.}
[The Agenda is Real] So, if we don’t want to see a reimagining of the federal government using religious doctrine, antithetical to the founding principles of our nation, it shouldn’t matter our voting preference, religious affiliation, or personal beliefs. It’s essential we recognize Project 2025 for the threat it is. America was predicated on a constitution, a secular body of laws that derives its power from the will of the people. If we pivot to reestablish our government based on religious doctrine, from a specific sect of Christianity, then we can kiss American freedoms goodbye. [...] Project 2025 is not just a list of stated ideals, but a detailed strategic playbook on how to dismantle the government so the far right can effectively enact its extremist agenda without interference. This isn’t hyperbolic, it’s what all the Republican presidential candidates signed on for.
{I've read some of it. They are quite thorough in their scorched earth Plan.}
[ (NOT) all people are created equal, according to some] So, America never passed a universal healthcare bill or acknowledged, as our peer nations did, that health care was a basic human right, because there were people in our government who simply couldn’t get their heads around giving health care to everyone because that “everyone” would include Black people. In fact, when you look at it, it’s amazing how many things we don’t have in this country because some white lawmaker, or donor, didn’t want Black people to have it.
{More hurting truths. }
[quotable] I often think of the author John Green’s statement about government-funded education where he said, Public education does not exist for the benefit of students or the benefit of their parents. It exists for the benefit of the social order. We have discovered as a species that it’s useful to have an educated population. Which is why I like to pay taxes for schools, even though I don’t personally have a kid in school: It’s because I don’t like living in a country with a bunch of stupid people.
{My note to self was, "Quote this"}
[Saint Ronnie's legacy, part of it, anyway] Reagan’s whole concept of “trickle-down economics,” this idea that money given to the wealthy through tax cuts and market deregulation would eventually make its way down to the worker, has been completely debunked as of 2023. We were told that the economy would be like a tower of champagne glasses, where you pour champagne into the top glass and all the glasses underneath end up getting filled, when in reality, trickle-down economics was more like the top glass just kept getting bigger in order to take in more champagne, while the glasses underneath were left practically empty and cracking under the weight.
[Another quotable] As Jon Stewart said, “We’re not going bankrupt in this country because of our taxes. We’re going bankrupt because of all the things we pay for out of pocket that other countries pay for with taxes.”
[Nefarious] Now, gerrymandering is something both parties do, but the Republican Party uses it far more readily than the Democrats. Republican legislators are responsible for drawing the maps in nineteen states whose 117 districts make up 41 percent of seats in the US House of Representatives, while Democratic state legislatures are only responsible for drawing 49 districts in seven states whose representatives make up about 11 percent of the House.
[It gets worse...] You could go down a rabbit hole with everything the Republicans have been doing to democracy in North Carolina, and you’d find it heartbreaking and morally and ethically wrong, but it’s also currently completely legal, and just one of the Republican-controlled states that participates in this behavior.
[See?] As of 2024, we’ve had 446 restrictive bills passed by a legislative committee, and 119 voter-suppression laws enacted since 2021. Many of the states enacting these laws tend to be states where voting was already restrictive, and prior to the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act, previously would have required “preclearance” to change their voting laws. To be clear, the Republican response to record voter turnout in 2020 was to make sure it never happened again. To unleash a tsunami of bogus “election integrity laws” at the state level that will restrict access to voters they don’t want voting, and to throw out or overturn votes they don’t want counted. In fact, for a powerful network of conservatives, voting restrictions are now viewed as the political life-or-death debate.
[Spoiler alert, we have a broken system] The Electoral College is simply no longer democratically fair. In a country with more than 330 million people and only 538 electoral votes, the small and medium states are overrepresented at the expense of the large ones. There’s also an economic imbalance. The fifteen most prosperous states in the nation generally have the largest populations whose House members represent hundreds of thousands more people than smaller-state House members, and they have a total of thirty senators, which equates to thirty electoral votes. While the thirty-five states with smaller economic activity and populations, have seventy senators, which equates to seventy electoral votes. So the smaller, less prosperous states have disproportionate power to not only dictate national policy, but to choose the president.
[Are you sitting down?] From 1790 to 1910, the House of Representatives added seats to Congress after every census. [...] So, after the 1920 Census the House stopped growing, and by 1929 Congress made it permanent by passing a law to cap the size of the House of Representatives at 435 seats. [...] We had fewer than 100 million people living in the United States in 1910. In the 2020 Census, America had over 330 million people, but we still have the exact same number of representatives. That means a single congressmember who used to represent around 200,000 people now represents approximately 700,000 people, with some congressmembers representing close to a million people.
[A solution they will fight to kill] House Resolution 622 (H.R. 622), a bill that would grow the House to 585 seats for the 2030 redistricting. [...] big states like California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania would greatly increase their House representation and allow them to be more in line with the number of people who live and work in those states.
[Marginalization without Representation] There was a time when New York had forty-three representatives in the House. Today it has twenty-six. California lost a House member after the 2020 Census, despite having a population of almost forty million people. For reference, it would take twenty-two states with the smallest populations to even get to forty million people, which means California is hopelessly underrepresented in the federal government. But this isn’t just a big-state problem. Take Delaware, for example. In 2020 it had a population of 989,948, while Montana had a population of 1,084,225. However, because of how representatives are allotted, Delaware stayed at one House seat, while Montana was given a second. So, despite the fact that the two states have almost the exact same population, Montana has double the House representation
[A Senate flaw...] Without the filibuster, we could conceivably put bills on the Senate floor that Republicans and Democrats could vote on together because they didn’t need to vote as a bloc to represent their party; they needed to vote as individuals to represent their state.
[Another Inconvenient Truth]
I think it’s fair to say the Citizens United decision was the tipping point event that shifted American political influence away from the people and toward wealthy donors and corporations.
{This might be the worse decision of all because it paid ... uh, paved... the way for future judicial rape and pillage.}
[Stinging rebuke] The people who paid for this court, who spent forty years working diligently to reshape the judiciary in their own image, have been rewarded mightily. The goal was to turn back the clock. To reverse the progress the country had made on everything from voting rights to workers’ rights, and they’re succeeding. This isn’t a partisan statement, simply a factual observation.
{Bought. Factual observation.}
[The Oppressors] People blame identity politics on Democrats, on women, on the LGBTQIA and BIPOC communities, but real identity politics doesn’t come from those who have been forced into their identity through marginalization, but from those who put them in that box in the first place. Real identity politics comes from those whose identities have always run politics. Those who feel the ground shift under their superiority don’t like the feeling.
September 28, 2024
I am giving this book 3 stars because it is pretty much what I expected it to be. It is well written and worth reading and the author is clearly passionate and well intentioned in her goals. However, if you are reasonably to well informed and politically engaged then you probably won't get much out of this book. I consider myself relatively well informed and follow politics closely and while I didn't get much from the book I still did learn some things I didn't know so thank you Leigh. The people that should be reading this book are the woefully ignorant and the uniformed but they will also be the people that will never read this book because their apathy is a point of pride for them. Those most likely to read the book are those that are well informed and curious (me) and those that know they are not as well informed as they should be and have decided to correct that deficiency. Let's hope that the content of this book reaches as many people as possible because it is a wake up call about the peril this country presently faces.
The book is organized around 6 points that the author has concluded are the foundation of the American ideal and our democracy. These 6 points concern freedom, opportunity, voting, our representation, the rule of law, and purpose of government. Ms McGowan then proceeds to give us a bit of history regarding each of these points and how these points became so important and how they evolved through our history. While I was aware of much of this history some of the legislative and political influences were new to me and informative. She also provides some explanations of how some of the Congressional rules work and how these rules came into being and this was also new and interesting to me. With each point the author identifies the problems being experienced and what needs to be done to correct or solve the problems. For instance regarding the rule of law the author believes, correctly, that our Supreme Court is compromised by politics and needs to be expanded. On this point we agree though how it should be expanded is something to debate. She recommends other solutions for all of the 6 points of her discussion but the bottomline for the entire discussion is that change and solutions will require all of the voting public to stop playing identity politics and unite as one American people and demand the things that will make life in this country better for everybody.
McGowan, to me, represents a group of people that I have learned as a criminal trial lawyer are the closest to being ideal Americans. McGowan is an immigrant and a naturalized citizen. These are the people that truly appreciate what America has to offer because they have a basis of comparison. Native born citizens take our American advantages for granted because we were born into them and have never experienced a life where their goals were limited by the condition of their birth or where education wasn't readily available and free; where they could say or read or worship as they wished. We all understand that we have rights but very few of us understand that those rights aren't free and come with responsibilities. Today those rights that we take for granted are seriously threatened and it is our responsibility to defend them or we will lose them. If we lose them getting them back will be a monumental struggle. Read the book and maybe even give it to somebody you think really needs to read it.
The book is organized around 6 points that the author has concluded are the foundation of the American ideal and our democracy. These 6 points concern freedom, opportunity, voting, our representation, the rule of law, and purpose of government. Ms McGowan then proceeds to give us a bit of history regarding each of these points and how these points became so important and how they evolved through our history. While I was aware of much of this history some of the legislative and political influences were new to me and informative. She also provides some explanations of how some of the Congressional rules work and how these rules came into being and this was also new and interesting to me. With each point the author identifies the problems being experienced and what needs to be done to correct or solve the problems. For instance regarding the rule of law the author believes, correctly, that our Supreme Court is compromised by politics and needs to be expanded. On this point we agree though how it should be expanded is something to debate. She recommends other solutions for all of the 6 points of her discussion but the bottomline for the entire discussion is that change and solutions will require all of the voting public to stop playing identity politics and unite as one American people and demand the things that will make life in this country better for everybody.
McGowan, to me, represents a group of people that I have learned as a criminal trial lawyer are the closest to being ideal Americans. McGowan is an immigrant and a naturalized citizen. These are the people that truly appreciate what America has to offer because they have a basis of comparison. Native born citizens take our American advantages for granted because we were born into them and have never experienced a life where their goals were limited by the condition of their birth or where education wasn't readily available and free; where they could say or read or worship as they wished. We all understand that we have rights but very few of us understand that those rights aren't free and come with responsibilities. Today those rights that we take for granted are seriously threatened and it is our responsibility to defend them or we will lose them. If we lose them getting them back will be a monumental struggle. Read the book and maybe even give it to somebody you think really needs to read it.
September 19, 2024
Very timely perspective on the current state of US politics.
I like how matter-of-fact the author was in presenting the basic tenets of American democracy. The author's politics are clear from her examples and arguments, but the most of the changes that she's in favor of (like ethics reforms) should be things that go beyond political party.
If you've been following US politics at all over the last few years, none of the concepts in this are really new, but I liked the presentation, and I hope it gets everyone thinking about the reforms we can all fight for to make democracy better for everyone.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
I like how matter-of-fact the author was in presenting the basic tenets of American democracy. The author's politics are clear from her examples and arguments, but the most of the changes that she's in favor of (like ethics reforms) should be things that go beyond political party.
If you've been following US politics at all over the last few years, none of the concepts in this are really new, but I liked the presentation, and I hope it gets everyone thinking about the reforms we can all fight for to make democracy better for everyone.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
August 28, 2024
"A Return to Common Sense" by Leigh McGowan is a book that should be read by every American when it is available on September 17th.
Chocked full of common sense solutions that examine 6 American principles that most Americans will recognize and I suspect, agree with. Our country seems to become more divisive and splintered along party lines; and we need to realize that is up to each of us to become informed and involved if we want the grand experiment that is our nation to continue. Written in conversational tones with a refresher civic lesson for some of us...that may be new to others...Leigh has written a compulsively readable book that is so very important in this election year and into the future. Her section on Identity politics was especially noteworthy and thought provoking. I want to thank NetGalley and Atria for an advanced electronic copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Chocked full of common sense solutions that examine 6 American principles that most Americans will recognize and I suspect, agree with. Our country seems to become more divisive and splintered along party lines; and we need to realize that is up to each of us to become informed and involved if we want the grand experiment that is our nation to continue. Written in conversational tones with a refresher civic lesson for some of us...that may be new to others...Leigh has written a compulsively readable book that is so very important in this election year and into the future. Her section on Identity politics was especially noteworthy and thought provoking. I want to thank NetGalley and Atria for an advanced electronic copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
August 14, 2024
This book is part a reminder of how the US’s government is set up (for those of us who need a reminder because it’s been a while since high school), mixed in with how we got to where we are in current politics and what we can do to get it back on track. It’s a relatively easy read, even with all the information she throws at you and is definitely worth picking up, especially now. Her writing style is conversational, which I liked and I also appreciated her list of other resources/works to check out at the end. I would definitely recommend this one for all Americans.
Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the review copy.
Pub date: September 17, 2024
Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the review copy.
Pub date: September 17, 2024
January 19, 2025
All the stars for this history book that ABSOLUTELY and DIRECTLY applies to current events.
I learned so much from you, Leigh McGowan. You packed so much insight into this rather small book. Looking now to follow on Bluesky, TikTok, wherever you post, so I can stay on top of my own common sense attitude and actions.
I wish we could make this mandatory reading for all Americans.
I learned so much from you, Leigh McGowan. You packed so much insight into this rather small book. Looking now to follow on Bluesky, TikTok, wherever you post, so I can stay on top of my own common sense attitude and actions.
I wish we could make this mandatory reading for all Americans.
November 7, 2024
This book is a must for anyone that needs a refresher or even an understanding in how our voting system works and our government in general. From what our Framers (not to be confused with Founding Fathers) put together to how it is being used today. Whether you agree with it or not isn’t the point. The point is our government is racing to a complete collapse. From the original purpose of our US Representatives (it use to fluctuate based on population until permanently set at 435 in 1913) To the purpose of the electoral college and its original purpose (wasn’t even part of the original layout of our country but used as a compromise when we had 13 states and prevented slaves from voting). In any event it is a history lesson and a refresher for those that may need it.
December 4, 2024
She explains government and politics in a clear way. Listened to the audiobook
November 20, 2025
If you've been following Leigh McGowan @iampoliticsgirl on social media, you already know how knowledgeable and smart she is. This audiobook was read by her and she was obviously excellent. She is such a fantastic speaker. This book is such a great book for anyone to pick up, that needs a refresher on how government and democracy works. She gives insightful information on how we can get back to a healthy and functional democracy, and government that works for all of us. This is well written, and easy to comprehend, and shows how passionate she is, not only about her own views, but for the rights of ALL PEOPLE to be able to live in a free country. This is a MUST READ, and so very important at this extremely critical time.
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
September 24, 2024
Purchased this book because I have followed Leigh McGowan, AKA PoliticsGirl, for a while and appreciate her no-nonsense approach. I somehow missed in her podcasts and such that she is Canadian and immigrated to America, and became a citizen. Thus, she learned a lot more about American history and requirements for the citizenship test than most of us learn (or used to learn....) in high school civics classes!! The book was very easy to read, extremely informative, breaking down the components of our government into understandable pieces. She offers insights on how we can fix our political climate, emphasizing that democracy is fragile and must be encouraged and nurtured, or we will watch it fail. It is much easier to prevent an authoritarian from taking over our country than it is to regain it once the takeover has happened....so we must all get out and vote if we hope to save it!
February 5, 2025
I wish I read this before the election. I think we may have blown it…
August 12, 2024
This book is part reminding us how the government was set up to work - which harkened back to high school civics/government class and part discussing where and how things have gone so wrong along the way. I've watched a lot of Leigh McGowan's videos online and that same common sense explanation is in full force in this book. Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for a chance to read an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
December 15, 2025
I've been so confused about what's happening in our country these days. This book came to me at just the right time. Not only is Leigh (aka PoliticsGirl) a great writer, but she talks to me in a way that I understand. Things may seem like a mess now, but she has great hopes for our country. She has absorbed the ugliness and gives us mere humans six principles to help us heal her:
1. America is a Land of Freedom (what we stand for)
2. Everyone Should Have the Opportunity to Rise
3. Every Citizen Should Have a Vote, and That Vote Should Count
4. Representatives Should Represent the People Who Voted for Them (and not only the donors)
5. The Law Applies to ALL of Us
6. The Government Should Be a Force for Good
Not only does she explain these principals in detail, but she includes a 'Further Reading List' and a detailed index to refer back to when we're wondering about the Electoral College.
To soften the hit of all of this stuff that we're hearing and trying to decipher, she includes her favorite banana bread recipe at the back of the book :-)
1. America is a Land of Freedom (what we stand for)
2. Everyone Should Have the Opportunity to Rise
3. Every Citizen Should Have a Vote, and That Vote Should Count
4. Representatives Should Represent the People Who Voted for Them (and not only the donors)
5. The Law Applies to ALL of Us
6. The Government Should Be a Force for Good
Not only does she explain these principals in detail, but she includes a 'Further Reading List' and a detailed index to refer back to when we're wondering about the Electoral College.
To soften the hit of all of this stuff that we're hearing and trying to decipher, she includes her favorite banana bread recipe at the back of the book :-)
September 30, 2024
I give the book 4.25 stars. I received a free ebook from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review. I really like politics and political books. I was excited to read this book.
This book is very informative. It explains how and why the constitution,, electoral college, and political system was set up. It explains why and how the system is today. It goes over a lot of details. It would actually be a good book to reread.
It's a book for democrats. It explains why systems work and don't work. I learned a lot from this book. It's a good book to read when an election is coming up.
It's a fairly easy read. It goes over a lot. The chapters aren't too long. It is very interesting. I feel most people need and really should read this book. It mainly a positive spin on politics. Makes you believe that the system can be better.
Thank you to Netgalley and the author for this book. I have more knowledge now. I look forward to reading more from the author.
This book is very informative. It explains how and why the constitution,, electoral college, and political system was set up. It explains why and how the system is today. It goes over a lot of details. It would actually be a good book to reread.
It's a book for democrats. It explains why systems work and don't work. I learned a lot from this book. It's a good book to read when an election is coming up.
It's a fairly easy read. It goes over a lot. The chapters aren't too long. It is very interesting. I feel most people need and really should read this book. It mainly a positive spin on politics. Makes you believe that the system can be better.
Thank you to Netgalley and the author for this book. I have more knowledge now. I look forward to reading more from the author.
October 3, 2024
Very informative. I like how Leigh went through the history of the constitution and those who wrote the bill of rights. Why some of these laws where written specifically to allow those in the south to keep their slaves. How those laws prevented people from voting hundreds of years later even after slavery was abolished. She also goes on to explain how today if project 2025 is enacted that they will remove our current constitution and its amendments returning us to a time where discrimination and women having no rights will once again prevail.
January 15, 2026
I wish everyone would read this book, especially chapter one on US Government. I firmly believe we are in our current political situation because most of the US does not know our history or how our government was designed to work. Leigh explains it simply and very clearly.
This was written prior to Trump’s second term; Leigh nails it at the end of her book when she talks about what will happen if he is (was) reelected. It’s happening in spades.
This was written prior to Trump’s second term; Leigh nails it at the end of her book when she talks about what will happen if he is (was) reelected. It’s happening in spades.
January 23, 2026
Well-written. She’s definitely a Democrat/Liberal, but she’s up front about it which I really appreciated. I definitely didn’t agree with everything, and it felt preachy at times, but it was a good overview of the government and current events. A lot of her predictions about the future came true, which is crazy. 4 stars because I felt like she set me up with the appropriate expectations for this book and then delivered.
October 2, 2024
Informative. Leigh makes it easy to understand our complex government. Her viewpoint is always right on. Definitely recommend for anyone that wants a good Civics lesson without it being boring.
October 28, 2024
This should be required reading for citizens! I encourage everyone who cares about our country and our democracy to read this.
March 4, 2025
Very interesting and informative, but not as balanced as I would hoped.
October 1, 2024
A must read!
Such an easy read. Everyone should read it. Loved it, I hope you write another one soon. It was over too soon.
Such an easy read. Everyone should read it. Loved it, I hope you write another one soon. It was over too soon.
October 17, 2024
A Return to Common Sense: How to Fix America Before We Really Blow It by Leigh McGowan (Politics Girl) is a basic guide to how our country works. It's a Civics 101 class that will tell you exactly what the vice president's job description is along with all other facets of the government. McGowan addresses such problems as the electoral college, gerrymandering, the filibuster, and the Supreme Court. It is a very timely book that everyone needs to read. I highly recommend this book!
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria/One Signal Publishers for the advanced digital copy of the book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria/One Signal Publishers for the advanced digital copy of the book.
February 7, 2025
An attorney friend of mine told me that this was the best book she’d ever read on the U.S. Constitution. So I read it. I was expecting a fairly scholarly discussion explicating its various articles and amendments. It’s not that at all. Perhaps it’s something better: there already are many scholarly and legal analyses of Constitutional articles and amendments.
McGowan is aiming for a different audience – not scholars nor lawyers and maybe not even people quite familiar with the Constitution but young people (and older people) who have not thought much about what’s in the Constitution or why they should. What rights and privileges do we have as Americans? How are they guaranteed in the Constitution and its amendments, and are these rights and privileges still in full force today? McGowan contends that we have drifted pretty far away from those rights. She is passionate about getting us to reclaim them.
To get us started, she gives a brief review of American history, with special emphasis on Thomas Paine, whose pamphlet on “Common Sense,” was a major impetus in convincing our founders and others that they needed to split from England to form their own government, not a monarchy but a democracy. Now she argues, forcefully, we must reclaim our democracy before it is too late.
“A lot has changed since 1776, but the parallels between Paine’s time and ours have become too obvious to ignore. You don’t have to be a genius to know that something’s gone wrong in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. . . Most of us are still trying to act as if the American Experiment is working for us, but deep down we know it’s not. . . I mean, sure, it’s working for you, Mark Zuckerberg, but you’re also building a five-thousand square foot underground bunker in Hawaii so … something’s up.”
She gives us six principles that are at the heart of our Constitution and its Amendments, tells us that we must reclaim them, and gives us her opinions about how that can be done. I’m just going to summarize a couple of points she makes under each of the six principles.
1. America is a land of freedom. Here are a few of the salient points she makes.
The history of America is packed with oppression. Right from the get-go, of course: chattel slavery and so many other oppressions on and on. But we have made progress. “Every step forward expanding our freedom has been hard-won, which is why it means so much to us, and why we shouldn’t be cavalier when people try to take it away.”
She also has little patience for those who think our Constitution is set in stone and must be interpreted as it was in the Framers time. Our Framers had vision and knew things would change and that we should change with them. She quotes Thomas Jefferson :
“. . . laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made . . .and manners and opinions change…institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat that fitted him when a boy as a civilized society to remain forever under the regime of their barbarous ancestors.”
2. Everyone should have the opportunity to rise.
The American Dream – everyone can make it, if they just work hard enough – is one of our most widely held beliefs and cherished ideals, but is it true? Or was it once true but not so true anymore? Of course, it was never true for the chattel slaves or, for a long time, women, and may other classes of people we could name. But, again, we’ve made progress. So how are we doing now?
Today, implied in the Trumpian phrase, “Make America Great Again,” is that we’ve lost something, usually something we had in the Golden Age of the 1950s (the good old days): white picket fences where we knew our neighbors and everyone looked pretty much alike and the father worked and the mother stayed at home where she kept the house and cared for the children and where one salary provided a comfortable life for the family.
But, McGowan says, the people who made that phrase famous are not thinking of those golden days, they are thinking of the Gilded Age. As proof she offers “the increasing wealth gap, the growing monopolies, the price gouging, the housing crisis, the increased child labor, the decreased regulations, and the disrupted unions to see the plan for what it is, and how few of us it will actually serve.” Power is in the hands of the few and corporate profits are higher than they have been in more than seventy years. The very, very rich are getting richer and hardworking people are falling into poverty. No matter how hard they work. Only half the people born in the 1980s will make as much money as their parents. Most are going backwards. She explains some of the things we/the government need(s) to do give everyone the opportunity to rise.
3. Every citizen should have a vote, and that vote should count.
In this chapter, McGowan recounts many things that have weakened our voting system and the power of our vote. Among them, the weakening of the Voter Rights Act, the varied attempts – often successful – to make it harder to vote, especially in targeted districts, gerrymandering, Citizens United (the ruling that unleashed unprecedented big money spending in politics and shifted political influence away from the people and toward wealthy donors and corporations), the Electoral College (which allows a Presidential candidate who did not receive a majority of the popular vote to win), the attempt of a past and current President to overturn legitimate election results, and more. She’s a strong advocate for amending the Constitution to get rid of the Electoral College but admits that it would be difficult so also suggests some alternatives.
4. Representatives should represent the people who voted for them.
Here she discusses unequal representation. Wyoming has the same number of U.S. senators as California, for example. And “the most prosperous parts of America include about fifteen states with thirty senators, while the thirty-five less prosperous states have seventy senators. So, the citizens paying the most into the federal government via taxes actually have less political power in the federal government via representation. Many other like examples can be cited, and she does. Government has simply stopped evolving to fairly represent the population. She also discusses the size of current congressional districts. Many districts are so large that our congress member can’t possibly stay in touch with his/her constituents except in a most remote way. As the population of the U.S. continues to grow, the numbers of our representatives remains the same, frozen at 435. Now a single congress member who used to represent “around 200,000 people represents approximately 700,000 people, with some congress members representing close to a million people. She says no one can adequately stay in touch with the diverse populations and interests in districts this large. But overall she tells us. “We took our eye off the ball, and let our relationship with democracy slide.” We took our democracy for granted.
The way the filibuster has come to be used is another issue she takes on. Anyone can stop a bill. It’s one of the reasons legislators can’t get things accomplished. She summarizes:
• Americans are less represented every year.
• House members have far too many constituents for us to truly be considered a representative democracy.
• The filibuster in the Senate is a road block to progress.
• Special interests and big money play an outsized role in our politics.
It’s a broken system.
5. The law applies to all of us.
Equal justice under the law, we say, but we know that’s not true. Not today and certainly not yesterday. Various amendments in our Bill of Rights have tried to make the law apply more broadly and more evenly.
• The Fourth Amendment lays out rules for search-and-seizure.
• The Fifth Amendment gives us the right not to incriminate ourselves or be tried twice for the same crime. It also says that we can’t have our life, freedom, or property taken away without “due process.”
• The Sixth Amendment is about our rights in a criminal trial, a right to a speedy trial by a jury of our peers, the right to confront those who accuse us in court, to have witnesses testify in our behalf, and our right to a lawyer.
• The Seventh Amendment is like the sixth but applies to civil trials.
• The Eighth Amendment says bail can’t be excessive and “cruel and unusual punishment” is not allowed.
We’ve come a long way, but many of these terms need to be better defined: what’s “cruel and unusual” punishment? We’re one of the few civilized countries in the world that still has the death penalty. And if bail is not supposed to be excessive, why do we have poor people rotting in jail for petty crimes while rich people are walking around free for crimes much worse?
The Fourteenth Amendment made the aforementioned rights apply to state and local governments as well. Great progress, but we’ve had obstacle courses put in front of these rights ever since – especially for Black men and other people of color and in poverty. And cries of unfairness from the privileged. “When you’re accustomed to privilege, equally feels like oppression.”
She discusses the many ways Trump and his followers are calling for religious tests, calling for mass deportations, threatening to lock up their political enemies, granting pardons to rioters who tried to overturn a duly elected government they didn’t happen to approve of, and more. And she also takes on the U.S. Supreme Court, especially their egregious ruling (6-3) giving legal immunity to U.S. presidents, essentially making the American president a king. She quotes Justice Sonya Sotomayor: “Today’s court . . . has replaced a presumption of equality before the law with the presumption that the President is above the law for all official acts.”
Our faith in the law, in our courts, has been shaken. Without trust in courts and in the Supreme Court, we have a country without law and order. At the end of the day the court only works if people believe in it. What’s the solution? She’s an advocate of expanding the number of Supreme Court justices for one. She also quotes Alexander Hamilton who said if it comes down to the court or the people, we must always defer to the latter. That’s certainly an ideal statement in a democracy, but I’m not sure if, in our current situation, that’s a good solution. The courts sometimes betray us and sometimes save us.
6. Government should be a force for good.
“. . . [G]overnment of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Is President Abraham Lincoln’s forceful definition and resolve of and for democracy still cherished today? Many, too many, not only in our country but around the world seem to be turning toward autocracy. Winston Churchill famously said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others. Yet we spend so much time complaining about it and, in recent times, trying to undermine it, instead of trying to make it better.
Ronald Reagan is hardly to blame for what’s been happening to our democratic government today but, says McGowan, he dealt government a severe blow when he made famous his small joke, “The most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.’” She reviews many ways that our government has failed and, importantly, many ways it has done incalculably good. She wants us to return to believing in our government and holding it accountable.
She spends several pages enumerating the many ways she believes the Republican Party is tearing down government and trying to destroy it. It she partisan, yes; but is she wrong, no. IMO. Her summary:
“It has been said that democracy is three things: (1) the vote, (2) the rule of law, and (3) a society that includes freedom of speech, a way of behaving in a civilized way with ‘the other,’ and free debate that is out of the grasp of power. Modern American democracy is sshowing strain in all three categories. We must use our vote to protect our institutions and behave with decorum and civility in the face of ignorance and incivility. Finally, we must uphold the rule of law, which means holding everyone, no matter who they are, accountable for their actions.”
McGowan published her book just before Donald Trump was elected to be POTUS for the second time. I can’t imagine that there is one honest, thinking person who is not shocked at how much damage has been done to our democracy in the two short weeks that he has resumed office, as of this writing. McGowan’s message is more urgent than ever.
McGowan is aiming for a different audience – not scholars nor lawyers and maybe not even people quite familiar with the Constitution but young people (and older people) who have not thought much about what’s in the Constitution or why they should. What rights and privileges do we have as Americans? How are they guaranteed in the Constitution and its amendments, and are these rights and privileges still in full force today? McGowan contends that we have drifted pretty far away from those rights. She is passionate about getting us to reclaim them.
To get us started, she gives a brief review of American history, with special emphasis on Thomas Paine, whose pamphlet on “Common Sense,” was a major impetus in convincing our founders and others that they needed to split from England to form their own government, not a monarchy but a democracy. Now she argues, forcefully, we must reclaim our democracy before it is too late.
“A lot has changed since 1776, but the parallels between Paine’s time and ours have become too obvious to ignore. You don’t have to be a genius to know that something’s gone wrong in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. . . Most of us are still trying to act as if the American Experiment is working for us, but deep down we know it’s not. . . I mean, sure, it’s working for you, Mark Zuckerberg, but you’re also building a five-thousand square foot underground bunker in Hawaii so … something’s up.”
She gives us six principles that are at the heart of our Constitution and its Amendments, tells us that we must reclaim them, and gives us her opinions about how that can be done. I’m just going to summarize a couple of points she makes under each of the six principles.
1. America is a land of freedom. Here are a few of the salient points she makes.
The history of America is packed with oppression. Right from the get-go, of course: chattel slavery and so many other oppressions on and on. But we have made progress. “Every step forward expanding our freedom has been hard-won, which is why it means so much to us, and why we shouldn’t be cavalier when people try to take it away.”
She also has little patience for those who think our Constitution is set in stone and must be interpreted as it was in the Framers time. Our Framers had vision and knew things would change and that we should change with them. She quotes Thomas Jefferson :
“. . . laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made . . .and manners and opinions change…institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat that fitted him when a boy as a civilized society to remain forever under the regime of their barbarous ancestors.”
2. Everyone should have the opportunity to rise.
The American Dream – everyone can make it, if they just work hard enough – is one of our most widely held beliefs and cherished ideals, but is it true? Or was it once true but not so true anymore? Of course, it was never true for the chattel slaves or, for a long time, women, and may other classes of people we could name. But, again, we’ve made progress. So how are we doing now?
Today, implied in the Trumpian phrase, “Make America Great Again,” is that we’ve lost something, usually something we had in the Golden Age of the 1950s (the good old days): white picket fences where we knew our neighbors and everyone looked pretty much alike and the father worked and the mother stayed at home where she kept the house and cared for the children and where one salary provided a comfortable life for the family.
But, McGowan says, the people who made that phrase famous are not thinking of those golden days, they are thinking of the Gilded Age. As proof she offers “the increasing wealth gap, the growing monopolies, the price gouging, the housing crisis, the increased child labor, the decreased regulations, and the disrupted unions to see the plan for what it is, and how few of us it will actually serve.” Power is in the hands of the few and corporate profits are higher than they have been in more than seventy years. The very, very rich are getting richer and hardworking people are falling into poverty. No matter how hard they work. Only half the people born in the 1980s will make as much money as their parents. Most are going backwards. She explains some of the things we/the government need(s) to do give everyone the opportunity to rise.
3. Every citizen should have a vote, and that vote should count.
In this chapter, McGowan recounts many things that have weakened our voting system and the power of our vote. Among them, the weakening of the Voter Rights Act, the varied attempts – often successful – to make it harder to vote, especially in targeted districts, gerrymandering, Citizens United (the ruling that unleashed unprecedented big money spending in politics and shifted political influence away from the people and toward wealthy donors and corporations), the Electoral College (which allows a Presidential candidate who did not receive a majority of the popular vote to win), the attempt of a past and current President to overturn legitimate election results, and more. She’s a strong advocate for amending the Constitution to get rid of the Electoral College but admits that it would be difficult so also suggests some alternatives.
4. Representatives should represent the people who voted for them.
Here she discusses unequal representation. Wyoming has the same number of U.S. senators as California, for example. And “the most prosperous parts of America include about fifteen states with thirty senators, while the thirty-five less prosperous states have seventy senators. So, the citizens paying the most into the federal government via taxes actually have less political power in the federal government via representation. Many other like examples can be cited, and she does. Government has simply stopped evolving to fairly represent the population. She also discusses the size of current congressional districts. Many districts are so large that our congress member can’t possibly stay in touch with his/her constituents except in a most remote way. As the population of the U.S. continues to grow, the numbers of our representatives remains the same, frozen at 435. Now a single congress member who used to represent “around 200,000 people represents approximately 700,000 people, with some congress members representing close to a million people. She says no one can adequately stay in touch with the diverse populations and interests in districts this large. But overall she tells us. “We took our eye off the ball, and let our relationship with democracy slide.” We took our democracy for granted.
The way the filibuster has come to be used is another issue she takes on. Anyone can stop a bill. It’s one of the reasons legislators can’t get things accomplished. She summarizes:
• Americans are less represented every year.
• House members have far too many constituents for us to truly be considered a representative democracy.
• The filibuster in the Senate is a road block to progress.
• Special interests and big money play an outsized role in our politics.
It’s a broken system.
5. The law applies to all of us.
Equal justice under the law, we say, but we know that’s not true. Not today and certainly not yesterday. Various amendments in our Bill of Rights have tried to make the law apply more broadly and more evenly.
• The Fourth Amendment lays out rules for search-and-seizure.
• The Fifth Amendment gives us the right not to incriminate ourselves or be tried twice for the same crime. It also says that we can’t have our life, freedom, or property taken away without “due process.”
• The Sixth Amendment is about our rights in a criminal trial, a right to a speedy trial by a jury of our peers, the right to confront those who accuse us in court, to have witnesses testify in our behalf, and our right to a lawyer.
• The Seventh Amendment is like the sixth but applies to civil trials.
• The Eighth Amendment says bail can’t be excessive and “cruel and unusual punishment” is not allowed.
We’ve come a long way, but many of these terms need to be better defined: what’s “cruel and unusual” punishment? We’re one of the few civilized countries in the world that still has the death penalty. And if bail is not supposed to be excessive, why do we have poor people rotting in jail for petty crimes while rich people are walking around free for crimes much worse?
The Fourteenth Amendment made the aforementioned rights apply to state and local governments as well. Great progress, but we’ve had obstacle courses put in front of these rights ever since – especially for Black men and other people of color and in poverty. And cries of unfairness from the privileged. “When you’re accustomed to privilege, equally feels like oppression.”
She discusses the many ways Trump and his followers are calling for religious tests, calling for mass deportations, threatening to lock up their political enemies, granting pardons to rioters who tried to overturn a duly elected government they didn’t happen to approve of, and more. And she also takes on the U.S. Supreme Court, especially their egregious ruling (6-3) giving legal immunity to U.S. presidents, essentially making the American president a king. She quotes Justice Sonya Sotomayor: “Today’s court . . . has replaced a presumption of equality before the law with the presumption that the President is above the law for all official acts.”
Our faith in the law, in our courts, has been shaken. Without trust in courts and in the Supreme Court, we have a country without law and order. At the end of the day the court only works if people believe in it. What’s the solution? She’s an advocate of expanding the number of Supreme Court justices for one. She also quotes Alexander Hamilton who said if it comes down to the court or the people, we must always defer to the latter. That’s certainly an ideal statement in a democracy, but I’m not sure if, in our current situation, that’s a good solution. The courts sometimes betray us and sometimes save us.
6. Government should be a force for good.
“. . . [G]overnment of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Is President Abraham Lincoln’s forceful definition and resolve of and for democracy still cherished today? Many, too many, not only in our country but around the world seem to be turning toward autocracy. Winston Churchill famously said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others. Yet we spend so much time complaining about it and, in recent times, trying to undermine it, instead of trying to make it better.
Ronald Reagan is hardly to blame for what’s been happening to our democratic government today but, says McGowan, he dealt government a severe blow when he made famous his small joke, “The most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.’” She reviews many ways that our government has failed and, importantly, many ways it has done incalculably good. She wants us to return to believing in our government and holding it accountable.
She spends several pages enumerating the many ways she believes the Republican Party is tearing down government and trying to destroy it. It she partisan, yes; but is she wrong, no. IMO. Her summary:
“It has been said that democracy is three things: (1) the vote, (2) the rule of law, and (3) a society that includes freedom of speech, a way of behaving in a civilized way with ‘the other,’ and free debate that is out of the grasp of power. Modern American democracy is sshowing strain in all three categories. We must use our vote to protect our institutions and behave with decorum and civility in the face of ignorance and incivility. Finally, we must uphold the rule of law, which means holding everyone, no matter who they are, accountable for their actions.”
McGowan published her book just before Donald Trump was elected to be POTUS for the second time. I can’t imagine that there is one honest, thinking person who is not shocked at how much damage has been done to our democracy in the two short weeks that he has resumed office, as of this writing. McGowan’s message is more urgent than ever.
October 1, 2024
This is an excellent overview of how the government is supposed to work. If you ever find yourself confused by the political environment, this is a great place to start.
October 1, 2024
great read!!!
Plain speak. Loved it.
Simple and to the point
Not accusatory.
I wish both sides read this book. Especially the letter at the end
Thank you Leigh.
Plain speak. Loved it.
Simple and to the point
Not accusatory.
I wish both sides read this book. Especially the letter at the end
Thank you Leigh.
October 1, 2024
Informative - I learned several new things.
September 29, 2024
This timely book is brilliant in so many ways, just like the author. I learned so much about how the government really works, much more than high school civics a half a century plus ago. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in some basic facts, statistics and frightening truths.
September 14, 2024
I think I know more about civics and government than most Americans, but it turns out, there is a lot more to learn to understand these things in today’s climate. In her passionate (but not angry) style, Leigh McGowan outlines 6 principles that, if followed, will help America return to sanity. For each principle, McGowan provides valuable context that is missing in much of our current political context. She defines the process of how bills become laws, but also describes how today's Congress has learned to game the system in ways that make it extremely difficult to pass meaningful legislation.
We hear a lot about "common sense solutions" from politicians, but McGowan's proposed solutions are firmly grounded in history and current practices. For example, she discusses the current state of the Supreme Court, explains in detail why we are unlikely to see meaningful ethics reform or partisan nominations and confirmations the way the court is currently structured. She proposes expanding the court, not to 12 or 15 as some have suggested, but to 27. This would essentially create a pool of judges from which 9 can be chosen to hear any given case. The advantages are many: plaintiffs would not know who would be on the bench for their case, the court could hear many more cases, and it takes the incentive for partisan court packing out of the nomination process.
I really loved this book and wish it could be read by every citizen, especially now when our system seems to be irrevocably broken. Many thanks to Atria and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
We hear a lot about "common sense solutions" from politicians, but McGowan's proposed solutions are firmly grounded in history and current practices. For example, she discusses the current state of the Supreme Court, explains in detail why we are unlikely to see meaningful ethics reform or partisan nominations and confirmations the way the court is currently structured. She proposes expanding the court, not to 12 or 15 as some have suggested, but to 27. This would essentially create a pool of judges from which 9 can be chosen to hear any given case. The advantages are many: plaintiffs would not know who would be on the bench for their case, the court could hear many more cases, and it takes the incentive for partisan court packing out of the nomination process.
I really loved this book and wish it could be read by every citizen, especially now when our system seems to be irrevocably broken. Many thanks to Atria and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
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