Audiobook10 hours
Let the People Rule: How Direct Democracy Can Meet the Populist Challenge
Written by John G. Matsusaka
Narrated by Christopher Grove
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
()
About this audiobook
How referendums can diffuse populist tensions by putting power back into the hands of the people
Propelled by the belief that government has slipped out of the hands of ordinary citizens, a surging wave of populism is destabilizing democracies around the world. As John Matsusaka reveals in Let the People Rule, this belief is based in fact. Over the past century, while democratic governments have become more efficient, they have also become more disconnected from the people they purport to represent. The solution Matsusaka advances is familiar but surprisingly underused: direct democracy, in the form of referendums.
Drawing on examples from around the world, Matsusaka shows how direct democracy can bring policies back in line with the will of the people (and provide other benefits, like curbing corruption). Taking lessons from failed processes like Brexit, he also describes what issues are best suited to referendums and how they should be designed, and he tackles questions that have long vexed direct democracy: can voters be trusted to choose reasonable policies, and can minority rights survive majority decisions? The result is one of the most comprehensive examinations of direct democracy to date-coupled with concrete, nonpartisan proposals for how countries can make the most of the powerful tools that referendums offer.
Propelled by the belief that government has slipped out of the hands of ordinary citizens, a surging wave of populism is destabilizing democracies around the world. As John Matsusaka reveals in Let the People Rule, this belief is based in fact. Over the past century, while democratic governments have become more efficient, they have also become more disconnected from the people they purport to represent. The solution Matsusaka advances is familiar but surprisingly underused: direct democracy, in the form of referendums.
Drawing on examples from around the world, Matsusaka shows how direct democracy can bring policies back in line with the will of the people (and provide other benefits, like curbing corruption). Taking lessons from failed processes like Brexit, he also describes what issues are best suited to referendums and how they should be designed, and he tackles questions that have long vexed direct democracy: can voters be trusted to choose reasonable policies, and can minority rights survive majority decisions? The result is one of the most comprehensive examinations of direct democracy to date-coupled with concrete, nonpartisan proposals for how countries can make the most of the powerful tools that referendums offer.
Related to Let the People Rule
Related audiobooks
How Change Happens Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Democracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Civilizing the State: Reclaiming Politics for the Common Good Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Revolution Generation: How Millennials Can Save America and the World (Before It's Too Late) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDemocracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Decline and Rise of Democracy: A Global History from Antiquity to Today Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPolitics is for Power: How to Move Beyond Political Hobbyism, Take Action, and Make Real Change Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Macat Analysis of Robert Dahl's Democracy and Its Critics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Against Democracy Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Reunited States of America: How We Can Bridge the Partisan Divide Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Presidents, Populism, and the Crisis of Democracy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStay Woke: A People's Guide to Making All Black Lives Matter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGlobalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Propaganda Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Politics of Disinformation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy Nationalism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sensible Politics: Visualizing International Relations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy Cities Lose: The Deep Roots of the Urban-Rural Political Divide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anti-System Politics: The Crisis of Market Liberalism in Rich Democracies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnti-Pluralism: The Populist Threat to Liberal Democracy (Politics and Culture) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Fascism: 12 Lessons from American History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What is Populism? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How will capitalism end?: Essays on a Failing System Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Politics For You
Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 48 Laws of Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The MAGA Diaries: My Surreal Adventures Inside the Right-Wing (And How I Got Out) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Behold a Pale Horse Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5While Time Remains: A North Korean Girl's Search for Freedom in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Romney: A Reckoning Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Out of the Wreckage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Revenge: How Donald Trump Weaponized the US Department of Justice Against His Critics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The War on the West Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dragonfire: Four Days That (Almost) Changed America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Prince Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People’s Business Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Let the People Rule
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Indeed, More power to the People and down with autocracy