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Reconstructing Democracy: How Citizens Are Building from the Ground Up
"An urgent manifesto for the reconstruction of democratic belonging in our troubled times."
--Davide Panagia
Across the world, democracies are suffering from a disconnect between the people and political elites. In communities where jobs and industry are scarce, many feel the government is incapable of understanding their needs or addressing their problems. The resulting frustration has fueled the success of destabilizing demagogues. To reverse this pattern and restore responsible government, we need to reinvigorate democracy at the local level. But what does that mean? Drawing on examples of successful community building in cities large and small, from a shrinking village in rural Austria to a neglected section of San Diego, Reconstructing Democracy makes a powerful case for re-engaging citizens. It highlights innovative grassroots projects and shows how local activists can form alliances and discover their own power to solve problems.
--Davide Panagia
Across the world, democracies are suffering from a disconnect between the people and political elites. In communities where jobs and industry are scarce, many feel the government is incapable of understanding their needs or addressing their problems. The resulting frustration has fueled the success of destabilizing demagogues. To reverse this pattern and restore responsible government, we need to reinvigorate democracy at the local level. But what does that mean? Drawing on examples of successful community building in cities large and small, from a shrinking village in rural Austria to a neglected section of San Diego, Reconstructing Democracy makes a powerful case for re-engaging citizens. It highlights innovative grassroots projects and shows how local activists can form alliances and discover their own power to solve problems.
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
120 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2020
12 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Charles Margrave Taylor
152 books661 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
Other authors with this name:
Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor, Journalist, Film critic
Charles Margrave Taylor CC GOQ FBA FRSC is a Canadian philosopher, and professor emeritus at McGill University. He is best known for his contributions to political philosophy, the philosophy of social science, history of philosophy and intellectual history. This work has earned him the prestigious Kyoto Prize, the Templeton Prize, the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy, and the John W. Kluge Prize, in addition to widespread esteem among philosophers. (Source: Wikipedia)
Other authors with this name:
Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor, Journalist, Film critic
Charles Margrave Taylor CC GOQ FBA FRSC is a Canadian philosopher, and professor emeritus at McGill University. He is best known for his contributions to political philosophy, the philosophy of social science, history of philosophy and intellectual history. This work has earned him the prestigious Kyoto Prize, the Templeton Prize, the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy, and the John W. Kluge Prize, in addition to widespread esteem among philosophers. (Source: Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 10, 2023
I actually really enjoyed this! I only read it because it seemed to be something I’d be interested in and it’s really short, but I’m glad I did. It talks about how the key to getting our democracies back is to reclaim the sense of community we’ve strayed from, and I couldn’t agree more! Looking forward to exploring these ideas in my own research. Not a must read by any means, it was definitely pretty boring, but I was interested in the subject matter for sure.
*ᴬˡˢᵒ ᴵ ᵖʳᵒᵐᶦˢᵉᵈ ᴵ’ᵈ ᶜˡᵉᵃʳ ᴹᵒˡˡʸ ᴺᵉᵉˢᵒⁿ’ˢ ⁿᵃᵐᵉ ᵒᶠ ʷʳᵒⁿᵍᵈᵒᶦⁿᵍ ᵒⁿ ᵐʸ ⁿᵉˣᵗ ᴳᵒᵒᵈʳᵉᵃᵈˢ ᵘᵖᵈᵃᵗᵉ
*ᴬˡˢᵒ ᴵ ᵖʳᵒᵐᶦˢᵉᵈ ᴵ’ᵈ ᶜˡᵉᵃʳ ᴹᵒˡˡʸ ᴺᵉᵉˢᵒⁿ’ˢ ⁿᵃᵐᵉ ᵒᶠ ʷʳᵒⁿᵍᵈᵒᶦⁿᵍ ᵒⁿ ᵐʸ ⁿᵉˣᵗ ᴳᵒᵒᵈʳᵉᵃᵈˢ ᵘᵖᵈᵃᵗᵉ
November 26, 2020
This gussied-up little pamphlet is simultaneously two things: entirely correct, and utterly boring. The thesis is that democracy is best saved by bottom-up organizations and advisory bodies where citizens can gain practice in democracy, thereby empowering them and reducing feelings of learned helplessness and over-reliance on elites to solve problems. It's clearly true and recognizes that democracy is a muscle that requires constant exercise. But it's a truth that hovers very close to the surface of the obvious, so one expects a little new insight to justify publication.
Instead, the bulk of the book is handed over to examples of community organizing from Western Europe and the U.S., with very little theoretical scaffolding attached. The examples are fine, and occasionally inspiring, although they suffer from a couple defects: several were either failures or incomplete at the time of writing, and all of the case studies are written in a style reminiscent of bureaucratic whitepapers from bodies like the U.N. or the E.U. It's quite dull.
Further, the book never addresses the many, many difficulties facing contemporary democracies. There are a few mentions of populist bogeymen like Trump, but little recognition of the ways social media, partisan news, racism, sexism, classism, and the systematic immiseration of all but the 1% have conspired to weaken democratic action. This is more of a pep-talk than a serious engagement with the problems of modern governance. I have a lot of respect for the authors and they're definitely on the side of the angels. But this book is by no means a must-read.
Instead, the bulk of the book is handed over to examples of community organizing from Western Europe and the U.S., with very little theoretical scaffolding attached. The examples are fine, and occasionally inspiring, although they suffer from a couple defects: several were either failures or incomplete at the time of writing, and all of the case studies are written in a style reminiscent of bureaucratic whitepapers from bodies like the U.N. or the E.U. It's quite dull.
Further, the book never addresses the many, many difficulties facing contemporary democracies. There are a few mentions of populist bogeymen like Trump, but little recognition of the ways social media, partisan news, racism, sexism, classism, and the systematic immiseration of all but the 1% have conspired to weaken democratic action. This is more of a pep-talk than a serious engagement with the problems of modern governance. I have a lot of respect for the authors and they're definitely on the side of the angels. But this book is by no means a must-read.
April 27, 2022
The idea behind the book is very good and intriguing, to reshape our current democratic processes to be more bottom-up instead of so top-to-bottom. This includes giving more power to local authorities and to the people affected by laws, so that together they can come up with better solutions.
However, the book is dry, repetitive and without too much depth. It reads like a very long introduction to a scholarly paper more than a book.
However, the book is dry, repetitive and without too much depth. It reads like a very long introduction to a scholarly paper more than a book.
June 5, 2021
Taylor and co provide an overly optimistic view of what democracy can look like but ultimately provide no substantive philosophical basis for their claims.
March 15, 2022
Drawn to it for the title but found it dry and rather boring overall.
April 10, 2025
A great illustration of democracy in action, providing tangible examples and practical steps to regenerate democracy.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews