What do you think?
Rate this book
The Great Democracy: How to Fix Our Politics, Unrig the Economy, and Unite America
A leading progressive intellectual offers an "illuminating" agenda for how real democracy can triumph in America and beyond (Ari Berman, New York Times).
Since the New Deal in the 1930s, there have been two eras in our political the liberal era, stretching up to the 1970s, followed by the neoliberal era of privatization and austerity ever since. In each period, the dominant ideology was so strong that it united even partisan opponents. But the neoliberal era is collapsing, and the central question of our time is what comes next.
As acclaimed legal scholar and policy expert Ganesh Sitaraman argues, two political visions now contend for the future. One is nationalist oligarchy, which rigs the system for the rich and powerful while using nationalism to mobilize support. The other is the great democracy, which fights corruption and extends both political and economic power to all people. At this decisive moment in history, The Great Democracy offers a bold, transformative agenda for achieving real democracy.
Since the New Deal in the 1930s, there have been two eras in our political the liberal era, stretching up to the 1970s, followed by the neoliberal era of privatization and austerity ever since. In each period, the dominant ideology was so strong that it united even partisan opponents. But the neoliberal era is collapsing, and the central question of our time is what comes next.
As acclaimed legal scholar and policy expert Ganesh Sitaraman argues, two political visions now contend for the future. One is nationalist oligarchy, which rigs the system for the rich and powerful while using nationalism to mobilize support. The other is the great democracy, which fights corruption and extends both political and economic power to all people. At this decisive moment in history, The Great Democracy offers a bold, transformative agenda for achieving real democracy.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published December 10, 2019
22 people are currently reading
434 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 31, 2019
Contemporary US politics in a nutshell is rule by the rich for the rich, and it’s amazing that 40 years in we are still debating whether or not neoliberal policies are benefiting the majority (they clearly are not). The income gap continues to grow, economic growth continues to be siphoned to the top, education and healthcare remain unaffordable for most people, and the response of the current administration is...to cut taxes further for the wealthy??
In The Great Democracy, Ganesh Sitaraman shows us how both the left and the right have embraced neoliberalism over the past four decades along with its emphasis on tax cuts, deregulation, trade liberalization, and limited government. Neoliberalism’s faith in the market has narrowed our conception of democracy, replacing discussions about the common good and general welfare with discussions about economic efficiency and profit maximization. The ideology is so deep most people don’t even realize that there could be another way.
Sitaraman does a better job than most diagnosing the problems and continually emphasizing the point that economics cannot be separated from politics. Even if you don’t believe that income and wealth inequality necessarily contributes to a lower standard of living for the majority—and that people should earn whatever the market pays them—the existence of inequality is detrimental to democracy and skews legislation to favor the rich. The wealthiest Americans and corporations spend massive amounts of money on elections and legislation to get the politicians and regulations (or lack thereof) that benefit them the most. If this wasn’t the case, they would not consistently spend tens and hundreds of millions of dollars on campaign financing and lobbying.
Forty years of neoliberalism is going to be tough to dig ourselves out from, and this demands some bold and broad legislation. But it cannot be disjointed; it has to be part of a larger philosophy with clear goals. In this respect, The Great Democracy provides a complete political philosophy to replace neoliberalism and compete with oligarchic nationalism. It is based on restoring the ideals of democracy, recognizing that the common good and general welfare of the people means more than economic growth at all costs. It also recognizes that political and economic fixes must be implemented together, and that massive discrepancies in wealth threatens democracy.
Sitaraman goes much further than simply outlining the problems and proposing an overall political philosophy. He provides several detailed economic and political reforms that seek to reduce inequality, expand democracy, and improve the standard of living for the bottom 90 percent of the population. His suggestions range from mandatory voting requirements to reinstating a top marginal tax rate of 70 percent to fundamentally reworking the structure of the Supreme Court to make it less political. His reform agenda also includes getting money out of politics, overturning Citizens United, mandating employee representation on corporate boards, and restructuring executive compensation.
The bottom line is that more of the same will not work. Our political problems will not solve themselves, and the market certainly won’t solve them for us, mainly because it is the market that has caused them. But we don’t want to turn to nationalism either. Sitaraman simultaneously provides us with a political philosophy that appeals to the ideals of democracy—to use as a guide for policy implementation—while suggesting reforms that will make our our society more equitable, engaged, and fair. Let’s hope the next era of politics follows this path.
In The Great Democracy, Ganesh Sitaraman shows us how both the left and the right have embraced neoliberalism over the past four decades along with its emphasis on tax cuts, deregulation, trade liberalization, and limited government. Neoliberalism’s faith in the market has narrowed our conception of democracy, replacing discussions about the common good and general welfare with discussions about economic efficiency and profit maximization. The ideology is so deep most people don’t even realize that there could be another way.
Sitaraman does a better job than most diagnosing the problems and continually emphasizing the point that economics cannot be separated from politics. Even if you don’t believe that income and wealth inequality necessarily contributes to a lower standard of living for the majority—and that people should earn whatever the market pays them—the existence of inequality is detrimental to democracy and skews legislation to favor the rich. The wealthiest Americans and corporations spend massive amounts of money on elections and legislation to get the politicians and regulations (or lack thereof) that benefit them the most. If this wasn’t the case, they would not consistently spend tens and hundreds of millions of dollars on campaign financing and lobbying.
Forty years of neoliberalism is going to be tough to dig ourselves out from, and this demands some bold and broad legislation. But it cannot be disjointed; it has to be part of a larger philosophy with clear goals. In this respect, The Great Democracy provides a complete political philosophy to replace neoliberalism and compete with oligarchic nationalism. It is based on restoring the ideals of democracy, recognizing that the common good and general welfare of the people means more than economic growth at all costs. It also recognizes that political and economic fixes must be implemented together, and that massive discrepancies in wealth threatens democracy.
Sitaraman goes much further than simply outlining the problems and proposing an overall political philosophy. He provides several detailed economic and political reforms that seek to reduce inequality, expand democracy, and improve the standard of living for the bottom 90 percent of the population. His suggestions range from mandatory voting requirements to reinstating a top marginal tax rate of 70 percent to fundamentally reworking the structure of the Supreme Court to make it less political. His reform agenda also includes getting money out of politics, overturning Citizens United, mandating employee representation on corporate boards, and restructuring executive compensation.
The bottom line is that more of the same will not work. Our political problems will not solve themselves, and the market certainly won’t solve them for us, mainly because it is the market that has caused them. But we don’t want to turn to nationalism either. Sitaraman simultaneously provides us with a political philosophy that appeals to the ideals of democracy—to use as a guide for policy implementation—while suggesting reforms that will make our our society more equitable, engaged, and fair. Let’s hope the next era of politics follows this path.
January 12, 2020
A good short policy book by a top member of Warren’s team. Ganesh doubles down in public options and a few other policy issues he has championed. I like the connection to Thomas Watson in Georgia, which is a connection I’ve made as well, but in my mind that time is over because the south chose white supremacy, this is the problem of majoritarianism..we just need to change or lower the me wages of whiteness
November 12, 2020
If you want to read about a coherent, fully integrated theory of government and economy I suggest Sitaraman. He's a longtime academic and advisor to Elizabeth Warren, and his notion of a Great Democracy, marked by equal access of opportunity for all, truly representative government, and several ways to kneecap the current neoliberal structure that handicaps any opposition to the current Gilded Age and era of nationalist oligarchy is very compelling. Frustrating how this wish list is broadly popular yet hamstrung by Congress' illiberal ethos and a captured judiciary.
February 17, 2020
The book is intended to be more of a manifesto, than a well cited study that dissects different policy interventions. The author is considered to be one of the top strategy personnel behind Sen. Warren’s presidential campaign (#RIP) and was classmates with Pete Buttigieg; if anything, the book reveals much of the governing ideology behind both campaigns’ policy pages.
A central theme of the book are the failures of the neoliberal era and lessons from an earlier time of the New Deal. Although its prescriptions are primarily US centric, there are ideological subtexts that are broadly applicable to any democracy—great or otherwise.
A central theme of the book are the failures of the neoliberal era and lessons from an earlier time of the New Deal. Although its prescriptions are primarily US centric, there are ideological subtexts that are broadly applicable to any democracy—great or otherwise.
May 16, 2020
Not a bad listen, and Sitaraman has plenty of good ideas. However, he splits the divide between the liberalism of the period "New Deal" to the '70, followed by the 'neoliberalism' of privatization and austerity from then to the present. I would pose that his so-called liberal period goes much further back to the progressivism of the late 19th century, and that the subsequent restoration of balance to something closer to 'normal' would have us go through a still further neoliberal/conservative/populist(Trumpian) period.
The early chapters are, I think, more useful for establishing dialog. Then, naturally, all his solutions depend heavily on centralized, statist involvement by leviathan. I think we know that's been less than fully successful.
The early chapters are, I think, more useful for establishing dialog. Then, naturally, all his solutions depend heavily on centralized, statist involvement by leviathan. I think we know that's been less than fully successful.
August 25, 2020
Fantastic book. It gives an accessible account of how neoliberal policy has shaped, and damaged, both our political and economic structures over the last thirty so years. The changes advocated in this book are pragmatic, urgent, and hard to argue against, at least in spirit if not in practice. There are several politicians that have adopted some version of these ideas - Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, to name a few. Read this before your next family dinner debate or Facebook argument, then encourage others to do the same.
August 23, 2020
While I have a few niggling complaints, mostly with the names Sitaraman gives to his policy proposals, I believe this is a necessary read if you are at all interested in returning America to actual democracy (instead of oligarchy with a mask.) Unlike many non-fiction books, he doesn't do "tell you the same thing three times", so there's a lot more content here then the length weekend make you think. There's definitely room to argue about the policy recommendations but they're all aligned to the goal of getting us back to being a democracy.
January 20, 2020
Minuteman. Really useful on the way in which US has unraveled, in the direction of nationalistic oligarchy, where the rich rule by taking over institutions and dividing the electorate with fear of the other. Less convincing about strategies for getting to "great democracy"--identifies what needs to change but not convincing ways to make that happen, given the extent to which the oligarchy has already gained tight control.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 4, 2020
Central to the book are the failures of neoliberalism. Sitaraman makes a good case for how America is sliding into national oligarchies, and how lobbyists are greasing the slides.
Some of his solutions are too far in the other direction, but they are thought provoking. I could see the influence of Senator Warren and Pete Buttigieg.
I found it an interesting read, and recommend it if you want a view into that part of the Democratic Party intellectual foundation.
Some of his solutions are too far in the other direction, but they are thought provoking. I could see the influence of Senator Warren and Pete Buttigieg.
I found it an interesting read, and recommend it if you want a view into that part of the Democratic Party intellectual foundation.
April 20, 2020
A very fine analysis of the challenges facing American democracy, and a progressive overview of what strategic steps can be taken to ensure its vibrancy and longevity. If you are disenchanted with neo-liberalism as a national or global economic system, this book offers thoughts on a way beyond. If you fear a Nationalist Oligarchy, the path of the great democracy is visionary. The reader will find that one or more candidates for the Presidency have used his ideas.
March 9, 2021
An interesting read. Parts where pretty boilerplate reform politics seen elsewhere, but some of the early parts of the book have good summations of political theory (democracy vs cosmopolitanism for example) that would be useful for LD and other contexts.
December 10, 2019
United politics, controlled economy, and "fixed" politics, the Democracy for this guy is what Stalin had and North Korea still has.
March 5, 2020
This was a GREAT book. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking some light, and not heat, about our current political situation and ways to move forward constructively.
October 13, 2020
A solid explanation of the policy choices needed to make our government more representative of the People and move closer to American promise of liberty and justice for all.
June 12, 2021
Was full of helpful ideas to restore and reinvigorate our democracy and bring systematic change to our institutions. Too bad that basically none of them will ever happen in the near future!
April 30, 2021
I reviewed this book on YouTube! https://youtu.be/1lgEFe1-u8c
A decent book that offers some insight into the current U.S. (and global) state of democracy, where we came from and where we're headed. The main value of the book for me was exposing me to the concept of neoliberalism and how it explains the current pseudo-democratic nature of U.S. government.
In the first half of the book, he describes the failings of neoliberalism as implemented since the 80s (it leads to an economic oligarchy, or domination by the wealthy, as opposed to what he calls economic democracy). He asserts that we need to move towards a "Great Democracy", which would extend mere political democracy with economic democracy and "united democracy" (a democracy that works for everyone across states and identities instead of for a mere majority of voters). He says that great democracy is just one of four possible scenarios we might be headed towards right now (great democracy, reformed neoliberalism, nationalist populism, and nationalist oligarchy), although he claims that only great democracy and nationalist oligarchy are really viable scenarios in the near future. This is an interesting way of framing things that I found useful, although I'm not yet convinced by his assertion that the "reformed neoliberalism" scenario is impossible right now; to me it still seems this is more likely that great democracy in the near future, even if less ideal.
The second half of the book enumerates many reforms that would theoretically enable a great democracy. Although I found many of these ideas interesting, at times they felt a bit more utopian than realistic. These programs mostly sound good in principle, but any opponent to his plans could certainly point out many unanswered criticisms. I wish he had said more about 1) what is a practical political roadmap towards implementing the programs he describes from where we are right now, and 2) what evidence exists that these idealized programs would actually "work" in practice? The latter question is admittedly maybe the domain of entirely separate books, but even so, I would have liked to see him acknowledge this and point us toward resources suggesting his plan(s) are viable. This isn't to say I think his plans are impossible, just that I don't think there's enough info in this book for us to judge their viability.
All in all pretty interesting, but not a must-read. I'd place this on a medium difficulty level; it's not quite what I'd call an "entry-level" political book because the discussion at the beginning about neoliberalism and related political ideologies is something at least I found difficult.
A decent book that offers some insight into the current U.S. (and global) state of democracy, where we came from and where we're headed. The main value of the book for me was exposing me to the concept of neoliberalism and how it explains the current pseudo-democratic nature of U.S. government.
In the first half of the book, he describes the failings of neoliberalism as implemented since the 80s (it leads to an economic oligarchy, or domination by the wealthy, as opposed to what he calls economic democracy). He asserts that we need to move towards a "Great Democracy", which would extend mere political democracy with economic democracy and "united democracy" (a democracy that works for everyone across states and identities instead of for a mere majority of voters). He says that great democracy is just one of four possible scenarios we might be headed towards right now (great democracy, reformed neoliberalism, nationalist populism, and nationalist oligarchy), although he claims that only great democracy and nationalist oligarchy are really viable scenarios in the near future. This is an interesting way of framing things that I found useful, although I'm not yet convinced by his assertion that the "reformed neoliberalism" scenario is impossible right now; to me it still seems this is more likely that great democracy in the near future, even if less ideal.
The second half of the book enumerates many reforms that would theoretically enable a great democracy. Although I found many of these ideas interesting, at times they felt a bit more utopian than realistic. These programs mostly sound good in principle, but any opponent to his plans could certainly point out many unanswered criticisms. I wish he had said more about 1) what is a practical political roadmap towards implementing the programs he describes from where we are right now, and 2) what evidence exists that these idealized programs would actually "work" in practice? The latter question is admittedly maybe the domain of entirely separate books, but even so, I would have liked to see him acknowledge this and point us toward resources suggesting his plan(s) are viable. This isn't to say I think his plans are impossible, just that I don't think there's enough info in this book for us to judge their viability.
All in all pretty interesting, but not a must-read. I'd place this on a medium difficulty level; it's not quite what I'd call an "entry-level" political book because the discussion at the beginning about neoliberalism and related political ideologies is something at least I found difficult.
December 20, 2019
An important oil that should be widely read
A nonpartisan review of the recent history that has hurt our democracy. An important part of this history is that economics and politics can t be separated. Our government now serves the rich, not the majority. This book is about how to restore representation of the majority.
A nonpartisan review of the recent history that has hurt our democracy. An important part of this history is that economics and politics can t be separated. Our government now serves the rich, not the majority. This book is about how to restore representation of the majority.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews