Democracy

A Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year

"This absolutely splendid book is a triumph on every level. A first-rate history of the United States, it is beautifully written, deeply researched, and filled with entertaining stories. For anyone who wants to see our democracy flourish, this is the book to read."
-Doris Kearns Goodwin

To all who say our democracy is broken-riven by partisanship, undermined by extremism, corrupted by wealth-history offers hope. Democracy's nineteen cases, honed in David Moss's popular course at Harvard and taught at the Library of Congress, in state capitols, and at hundreds of high schools across the country, take us from Alexander Hamilton's debates in the run up to the Constitutional Convention to Citizens United. Each one presents a pivotal moment in U.S. history and raises questions facing key decision makers at the time: Should the delegates support Madison's proposal for a congressional veto over state laws? Should Lincoln resupply Fort Sumter? Should Florida lawmakers approve or reject the Equal Rights Amendment? Should corporations have a right to free speech? Moss invites us to engage in the passionate debates that are crucial to a healthy society.

"Engagingly written, well researched, rich in content and context Moss believes that fierce political conflicts can be constructive if they are mediated by shared ideals."
-Glenn C. Altschuler, Huffington Post

"Gives us the facts of key controversies in our history-from the adoption of the constitution to Citizens United-and invites readers to decide for themselves A valuable resource for civic education."
-Michael Sandel, author of Justice

“This set of well-documented, accessible essays presents the prickly challenges facing the rapidly changing American democracy, for lawmakers and citizens alike...A sterling educational tool that offers a fresh presentation of how 'democracy in America has always been a contact sport.'”

This absolutely splendid book is a triumph on every level. A first-rate history of the United States, it is beautifully written, deeply researched, and filled with entertaining stories. For anyone who wants to see our democracy flourish, this is the book to read. -- Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals and The Bully Pulpit
Brilliantly adapting the provocative format of the Harvard Business School's case study method, Democracy: A Case Study challenges readers to think anew on topics ranging from James Madison's quest for a workable federalism to such modern flashpoints as the power of the Federal Reserve and the Citizens United decision. Each episode is crisp and compelling, entertaining and inspiring. The effect is nothing less than to open the gates of our most elite university to the reading public. -- Roger Lowenstein, author of America's Bank
Democracy: A Case Study gives us the facts of key controversies in our history—from the adoption of the Constitution to Citizens United—and invites readers to decide for themselves. This novel approach makes American history a valuable resource for civic education. -- Michael J. Sandel, author of Justice and What Money Can't Buy
In this powerfully provocative exploration of the nation’s core political values, David Moss shows why after more than two centuries we cannot take democracy for granted. Drawing on a number of well-selected case studies, he invites readers to interrogate the fundamental assumptions that have informed our civil society since the ratification of the Constitution. -- Timothy H. Breen, author of Colonial America in an Atlantic World
If we are going to breathe new life into democracy, there is no better way to begin than by reacquainting ourselves with our history. David Moss does this brilliantly in Democracy: A Case Study. Through well-chosen examples, drawn from his case-method course at Harvard, he helps us to understand the paths chosen and not chosen, and how each generation has adapted to new realities. Democracy may be something of a contact sport, as he argues, but we can play the game better if we understand the rules and why they keep changing. This timely book goes a long way toward that end. -- Ted Widmer, Brown University
This set of well-documented, accessible essays presents the prickly challenges facing the rapidly changing American democracy, for lawmakers and citizens alike…A sterling educational tool that offers a fresh presentation of how ‘democracy in America has always been a contact sport.’ Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
It’s hard to imagine a timelier book, given America’s tumultous 2016 elections, than this eminently readable survey of political disputes. Publishers Weekly
Democracy should command the attention of teachers and students of all ages…Moss’s case studies are engagingly written, well researched, rich in content and context…Moss believes that fierce political conflicts can be constructive if they are mediated by shared ideals. He seems to demonstrate, moreover, that in a world in which ‘alternative facts’ are gaining traction, an informed understanding of the past can help us identify pathways to a prosperous and just democracy. -- Glenn C. Altschuler Huffington Post
Moss makes [his] argument in his brilliant introductory and concluding chapters, while the core of the book consists of 19 cases from throughout U.S. history that exemplify the complexity of political conflict. -- Suzanne Mettler Foreign Affairs
If this book does not read like a prediction of the present, then perhaps its sangfroid will nevertheless suit the reader with nerves jangled by the news. David Moss suggests we ought to be overdefensive of democracy; he recommends a salutary ‘political hypochondria.’ It seems an appropriate neurosis for the moment. -- Eric Rauchway Times Literary Supplement

David A. Moss is the Paul Whiton Cherington Professor at Harvard Business School and the founder of the Tobin Project, a nonprofit research organization that has received the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. He has received the Student Association Faculty Award for outstanding teaching at the Harvard Business School eight times. Democracy: A Case Study grew out of a course he created for Harvard undergraduates and business school students that has been taught to the United States Congress and to state congresses and that is now being brought to high schools throughout America as part of the High School Case Method Project, which Professor Moss oversees at Harvard Business School.

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