Breaking the TwoParty Doom Loop, Lee Drutman
Breaking the TwoParty Doom Loop, Lee Drutman
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Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop
The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America

Author: Lee Drutman

Narrator: Christopher Grove

Unabridged: 10 hr 49 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Kalorama

Published: 06/23/2020


Synopsis

American democracy is at an impasse. After years of zero-sum partisan trench warfare, our political institutions are deteriorating. Our norms are collapsing. Democrats and Republicans no longer merely argue; they cut off contact with each other. In short, the two-party system is breaking our democracy, and driving us all crazy.

Deftly weaving together history, democratic theory, and cutting-edge political science research, Lee Drutman tells the story of how American politics became so toxic, why the country is trapped in a doom loop of escalating two-party warfare, and why it is destroying the shared sense of fairness and legitimacy on which democracy depends. He argues that the only way out is to have more partisanship—more parties, to short-circuit the zero-sum nature of binary partisan conflict.

Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop makes a compelling case for large scale electoral reform—importantly, reform not requiring a constitutional amendment—that would give America more parties, making American democracy more representative, more responsive, and ultimately more stable.

About Lee Drutman

Lee Drutman is a senior fellow in the Political Reform program at New America. He is the author of The Business of America is Lobbying and winner of the 2016 American Political Science Association's Robert A. Dahl Award, given for "scholarship of the highest quality on the subject of democracy." In addition, he writes regularly for Polyarchy, a Vox blog. Drutman also teaches in the Center for Advanced Governmental Studies at The Johns Hopkins University. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Laura on June 30, 2020

I have never before read a book that so comically failed to convince me of something I already believe. I have thought that ranked choice voting made sense ever since CGP Grey told me about it, and I've longed for more political parties for longer than that, sensing intuitively the destruction a two......more

Goodreads review by Joseph on January 12, 2021

This book is for anyone disenchanted with the current state of our government and partisan politics. Good history of how we got to where we are and real solutions suggested (ranked choice voting, creating multi-member districts, elimination of primaries, etc). But the problem remains that change can......more

Goodreads review by Andreas on January 02, 2021

I wanted to like this book, and the recommendations Drutman puts forward--ranked choice voting (RCV) for the Senate, and 3-5 seat multi-member districts + RCV for an expanded House--still seem compelling enough, but he just doesn't make a case that is as strong as it could be. One subjective, person......more

Goodreads review by Armin on September 16, 2021

This book provides excellent context for Ranked Choice Voting and Proportional Representation reforms. It answers questions like: why has politics gotten so toxic recently? Was it always this bad? One interesting perspective Drutman brings up: we used to have a “hidden” four-party system within our......more

Goodreads review by Erik on December 07, 2022

The best political book I've read in a long time. Convincingly argues that much of the toxic polarization that has spread from electoral politics and social media into everyday life -- creating what the Art of Manliness has entitled "the Straight-Ticket Personality" -- is due not only to deep underl......more