American Democracy: 21 Historic Answers to 5 Urgent Questions

by Nicholas Lemann (editor)

From The Federalist to Citizens United, a bestselling historian presents key writings on five crucial questions confronting American democracy today Amid the frenzied overload of 24-hour cable news and incessant social media, at a time when many of us fear for the future of our democracy, it is becoming harder and harder to think clearly about politics. American 21 Historic Answers to 5 Urgent Questions provides an alternative for those who want to step back and look to the past for inspiration and guidance.   Edited with perceptive and provocative commentary by bestselling historian and journalist Nicholas Lemann (The Promised Land, Transaction Man), the book presents key writings from the American past that speak to five contemporary flashpoints in our political race, gender, immigration, and citizenship; opportunity and inequality; the purpose and powers of the federal government; money, special privilege, and corruption; and protest and civil disobedience. Some of the selections are well-known—George Washington’s letter to the Hebrew Congregation at Newport, Frederick Douglass’s “What to the Slave is the 4th of July,” Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter from Birmingham Jail—while others will be new to many readers—Horace Mann’s argument for public schools as a means of fighting inequality, Jane Addams’s perceptive analysis of gender and social class in charity work, Randolph Bourne envisioning a “Trans-National America.”   American Democracy presents a remarkable range of insightful and eloquent American political writing, while serving as an invaluable resource for concerned citizens who wish to become better-informed participants in the ongoing drama of our democracy.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

316 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 6, 2020

Reviews

[robin friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

American Democracy On The Fourth Of July

Every Fourth of July, I try to post a review appropriate to the themes of the day. This year I was fortunate to read this aptly-titled anthology, "American Democracy: 21 Historic Answers to 5 Urgent Questions" (2020) published by the Library of America and edited by Nicolas Lemann, Professor and Dean Emeritus at the Columbia University School of Journalism. I had earlier read Lemann's books "The Great Black Migration and How it Changed America" and "Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War" and was eager to explore with him the nature of American democracy.

The book explores a variety of historical writings to questions about American democracy that continue to be important and difficult today. The book is meant to "serve as a tool in the effort to understand American democracy -- the fundamental challenges that our system faces and the questions it has never been fully able to resolve." The book shows that Americans have disagreed about crucial issues over their history. The selections in the book are valuable in their own right and encourage readers to think through these issues for themselves. Some of the selections are well-known, but most readers of the volume will find something new. Some basic texts, such as the Declaration of Independence or the Gettysburg Address are not included. Instead, the writings were selected to illustrate an issue that was in dispute when it was written and remains so. The selections are short.

The book opens with Lemann's Introduction and then proceeds through five "Questions" each with its own introduction by Lemann. The questions are philosophical and provocative. Question 1 involves Citizenship and explores through five writings from George Washington to Randolph Bourne "Who are We the People?" Questions 2 explores the broad question of Equality and asks "How can it be Achieved" in four selections ranging from Horace Mann to W.E.B. Dubois. The third question, discusses A More Perfect Union and asks "What is the Government For?" in selections from James Madison through Paul Nitze. Question 4 explores the power of money in American democracy and asks "How to Control it?" in four selections ranging from Andrew Jackson to Justice John Paul Stevens. The final section, "Protest" asks "When can we disobey the Law" in three well-chosed selections from Thoreau, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Hannah Arendt.

Each of the five questions in the book offers endless opportunities for close reading, discussion, and further exploration, as do each of the writings. In the context of my Fourth of July reading, I want to mention two of the articles. First, a selection from Frederick Douglass' July 5, 1852 oration, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" is included in Question 1, who are "We the People". Douglass' fiery, eloquent speech explores the contrast between American ideals and the harsh reality of slavery.

The second article I wish to mention is Federalist 51 by James Madison, included as part of Question 3 "What is the Government For?". This famous essay discusses the constitutional separation of powers, but its thought is vastly deeper than even this important subject. Madison writes: "If men were angels , no government would be necessary, If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controuls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to controul the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to controul itself. A dependence on the people is no doubt the primary controul on the government: but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions."

Madison links the separation of powers found in the proposed Constitution to the growth of a potentially large Republic, such as the United States, in which individuals will pursue a diversity of interests and form different alliances on different issues. Madison argues that the separation of powers in the American constitution will play a critical role in preventing one large part of the society from uniting to oppress another part, a minority with differing views. Division of governmental powers, Madison argues, will help control factionalism and single-issue politics. I found it valuable to read and to be reminded of the wisdom of Madison's essay in our own troubled and divided times.

The time I spent reading this book in the context of the July 4th holiday was time well spent. In addition to independent reading, this book would be an excellent source for discussion in classes from high school through college and for reading and study groups.

Robin Friedman

[John Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This important book uses five questions, twenty-one historical events, and essays to illustrate the five questions about the United States. The questions deal with citizenship and who "we the people" are, equality and how it can be achieved, the purpose of the government, the power of money and how to control it, and when we can break the law to affect change. The examples make the reader think and realize how imperfect this experiment in "democracy" is.

[Sam Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’ve been exposed to political science or American political history, you’ve probably read many of these collected works. However, the framing device here of unanswered questions we still ask today shines an interesting new light on them. This book is nothing groundbreaking, but serves as a solid collection of good works with interesting themes.

[Bruce Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 Urgent questions about American Democracy and 21 answers spanning the last 3 centuries.

Citizenship - Who are "We" the people?
Equality - How can it be achieved?
A More Perfect Union - What is the government for?
The Power of Money - How to control it
Protest - Can we disobey the law?

[Jrwren · Rating 5 out of 5]

some of the racist stuff in hard to read. that is US history

[Clay Cooney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really just a collection of past speeches, writings, and excerpts from various people who help answer these questions. Interesting to peer into those moments in history for sure!

[TJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great collection of original documents