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  How to Save a Constitutional...

  Tom Ginsburg, Aziz Z. Huq

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  Democracies are in danger. Around the world, a rising wave of populist leaders threatens to erode the core structures of democratic self-rule. In the United States, the tenure of Donald Trump has seemed decisive turning point for many. What kind of president intimidates jurors, calls the news media the “enemy of the American people,” and seeks foreign assistance investigating domestic political rivals? Whatever one thinks of President Trump, many think the Constitution will safeguard us from lasting damage. But is that assumption justified?How to Save a Constitutional Democracy mounts an urgent argument that we can no longer afford to be complacent. Drawing on a rich array of other countries’ experiences with democratic backsliding, Tom Ginsburg and Aziz Z. Huq show how constitutional rules can both hinder and hasten the decline of democratic institutions. The checks and balances of the federal government, a robust civil society and media, and individual rights—such as those enshrined in the First Amendment—often fail as bulwarks against democratic decline. The sobering reality for the United States, Ginsburg and Huq contend, is that the Constitution’s design makes democratic erosion more, not less, likely. Its structural rigidity has had unforeseen consequence—leaving the presidency weakly regulated and empowering the Supreme Court conjure up doctrines that ultimately facilitate rather than inhibit rights violations. Even the bright spots in the Constitution—the First Amendment, for example—may have perverse consequences in the hands of a deft communicator who can degrade the public sphere by wielding hateful language banned in many other democracies. We—and the rest of the world—can do better. The authors conclude by laying out practical steps for how laws and constitutional design can play a more positive role in managing the risk of democratic decline.

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  The Principal Speeches of...

  Demosthenes

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  Demosthenes (384-322 BCE) is regarded as one of the greatest orators of Classical times. This view has persisted through the centuries even though his rousing speeches warning of the dangers of Macedonian expansion - firstly guided by Philip II and then Alexander the Great - failed to stem the course of continued military success. 
   
  A contemporary of Plato and Aristotle, it is said that Demosthenes undertook arduous measures to cure himself of a stammer by speaking with pebbles in his mouth and perfecting breath control. Starting as a speech writer, he made his mark at an unusually young age (for the time), delivering his first major public speech at the age of 30, advising Athens to build its naval fleet as a defence against the Persians. In fact, it was the ambition of Philip of Macedon that would prove the principal threat. This was recognised by Demosthenes, as shown by the main speeches included in this collection. 
   
  In the 'Three Olynthiac Orations', Demosthenes outlined the tactics of Philip’s aggression towards Olynthus, an ally of Athens. He urged support for the smaller state, but his words went unheeded until it was too late. Demosthenes’s increasingly unrestrained language - at one point he calls Philip ‘a barbarian’ - did not endear him to the Macedonian regime. 
   
  The 'Olynthiac Orations' are followed by the 'Three Philippics', which chart further military activity by the aforementioned Philip. In between the second and third 'Philippics' comes ‘On the Peace’: a speech given during a short diplomatic space engineered by Philip, but which Demosthenes clearly highlighted as an armistice rather than anything permanent. This ‘Philip’ section ends with ‘The Oration on the Letter'. Philip sent a letter to Athens, which implied that war, again, was imminent. Demosthenes responded with characteristic boldness. 
   
  The final speech on this recording is ‘On the Crown’, addressing a very different matter. The Athenian statesman Ctesiphon proposed that Demosthenes should be honoured with the ‘golden crown’ for his service to the city. This was opposed by Aeschines, a long-standing enemy of Demosthenes in Athenian politics. In the court case that followed (330 BCE), Demosthenes successfully defended Ctesiphon in a speech later described as ‘the greatest speech of the greatest orator in the world'. 
   
  Each of the orations in this collection is preceded with an introduction setting the scene, and outlining the context in which they were delivered. This also gives a concise picture of Athens at this difficult point in its history. Eight years later, when in danger of being captured and imprisoned by the young Alexander who was angered by decades of eloquent and unrestrained opposition, Demosthenes committed suicide. All the speeches are prefaced by the historical setting. Translations by Arthur Wallace Pickard and Charles Rann Kennedy.

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  Free - A Child and a Country at...

  Lea Ypi

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  Longlisted for the 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 
   
   
   
  A reflection on "freedom" in a dramatic, beautifully written memoir of the end of Communism in the Balkans. 
   
   
   
  Lea Ypi grew up in the last Stalinist country in Europe: Albania, a place of queuing and scarcity, of political executions and secret police. While family members disappeared to what she was told were "universities" from which few "graduated," she swore loyalty to the Party. In her eyes, people were equal, neighbors helped each other, and children were expected to build a better world. 
   
   
   
  Then the statues of Stalin and Hoxha were toppled. Almost overnight, people could vote and worship freely, and invest in hopes of striking it rich. But factories shut, jobs disappeared, and thousands fled to Italy, only to be sent back. Pyramid schemes bankrupted the country, leading to violence. One generation's dreams became another's disillusionment. As her own family's secrets were revealed, Ypi found herself questioning what "freedom" really means. With acute insight and wit, Ypi traces the perils of ideology, and what people need to flourish.

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  Pandemonium - Power Politics and...

  Jack Horgan-Jones, Hugh O'Connell

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  The Inside Story of Ireland's Pandemic: Every Decision, Every Player, Every Text, Every Leak
  Ireland's lockdowns were among the harshest and longest in Europe. As the state was battered by waves of disease time and again, unparalleled pressures and untold tensions emerged as the country went to war with Covid, and policymakers and politicians did battle with each other.
  How were the key decisions made? Who held all the power?
  Boasting unrivalled access to the key decision-makers and drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews and thousands of pages of documents, including confidential and unpublished material, Pandemonium reveals the moves, the power-plays and the – at times jaw-dropping – tactics of a government with the health of a nation in its hands.
  'If a movie is ever made of how Ireland responded to the Covid-19 pandemic, Pandemonium may well provide the script … You will feel as if you were in the room when key conversations happened and decisions were made.' Professor Luke O'Neill
  'Illuminates the corners of institutions usually able to operate in the dark' Fintan O'Toole
  'A page-turner … an exceptional insight' Matt Cooper
  'Unflinching and unrelenting' Dearbhail McDonald

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  Parliamentary America - The...

  Maxwell L. Stearns

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  Americans face increasingly stark choices each presidential election and a growing sense that our government can't solve the nation's most urgent challenges.  Our eighteenth-century system is ill-suited to our twenty-first-century world. Information-age technology has undermined our capacity to face common problems together and turned our democracy upside down, with gerrymanders letting representatives choose voters rather than voters choosing them. In Parliamentary America, Maxwell L. Stearns argues that the solution to these complex problems is a parliamentary democracy. 
   
   
   
  Stearns considers such leading alternatives as ranked choice voting, the national popular vote, and congressional term limits, showing why these can't solve our constitutional crisis. Instead, three amendments—expanding the House of Representatives, having House party coalitions choose the president, and letting the House end a failing presidency based on no confidence—will produce a robust multiparty democracy. 
   
   
   
  Stearns takes listeners on a world tour—England, France, Germany, Israel, Taiwan, Brazil, and Venezuela—showing what works in government, what doesn't, and how to make the best features our own. Genuine party competition and governing coalitions, commonplace across the globe, may seem like a fantasy in the United States. But we can make them a reality.

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  Liberal Tradition in America...

  Briefly Summaries

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  This is a concise summary and analysis of The Liberal Tradition in America, by Louis Hartz.
   
  It is not the original book and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Louis Hartz.
  Ideal those seeking a quick and insightful overview.
   
  The Liberal Tradition in America is a profound exploration of the unique development of liberal thought in the United States. This seminal work examines the absence of a feudal past and its impact on the country's ideological trajectory, arguing that America's political culture has been defined by an enduring commitment to individualism, property rights, and liberal values. Through incisive historical analysis, the book sheds light on the nation's distinct political identity, its influence on domestic and foreign policy, and the limitations of liberalism in addressing social inequalities. Essential for students of American history and political philosophy, this work offers an enduring framework for understanding the nation's intellectual heritage.

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