Fixing American Politics: Solutions for the Media Age brings together original chapters from 34 noted scholars from two disciplines – political science and communication – asked to identify the most pressing problems facing the American people and how they can be solved. Authors address the questions succinctly and directly, with their favored solutions featured in chapter titles that exhort and inspire. The book gives the reader much to think about and debate. Should news outlets be funded with public money rather than by private enterprise? Are the new social media a boon or a bane to political elections? Is the American past dead, or is it living once again? Do churchgoers and environmentalists have anything to discuss? Is the FCC doing its job? Can political ads be made less toxic? Should Fox News be "cancelled?" Should cancel cultures be cancelled? Can we become more civil to one another and, if so, how? Fixing American Politics poses all the best questions ... and offers some concrete answers as well. This book is perfect for students, citizens, the media, and anyone concerned with contemporary challenges to civic life and discourse today.

Presenting a range of essays from top scholars in the field, this reader helps students to understand how American Government institutions can be made to work better.

The nation is suffering from debilitating and polarizing partisanship. Conservative and Liberal factions want more power for themselves and seek to deprive their political opponents of power. The rancor of modern political debate reflects a growing failure of basic governance. Restoring balance, compromise and rationality to the U.S. government can be permanently achieved only by making revisions to the Constitution via a new constitutional convention (or convention of states), as provided by Article 5 of the Constitution. This book explains why a new constitutional convention is likely the only way to make lasting repairs to the government, intended to mend modern partisan divides. It also describes how the country got to this inflection point, is a practical manual for organizing and running a new constitutional convention, and offers 25 specific proposals for constitutional amendments that could repair the frayed fabric of our Republic.

Are you FED UP with Congress? For most Americans, the answer would be an emphatic, "Yes!". So why do members waltz back into office term after term? Even in so-called, change years? Are Americans really that dumb? ... Maybe not. In this book, a veteran activist and observer opens the hood of our political system, and reveals as never before the innocent, but crucial errors made by the founders in designing our national legislature. You will learn how those flaws combined with human nature to produce an institution that now fails us so thoroughly, so often, it no longer seems capable of rational public policy. You will see how today's politics seduces and corrupts even the best and most well-meaning leaders, including someone you have trusted (and re-elected) for years. You will understand why our leaders refuse to act, and why reforms fail time and again. Finally, the author proposes a sensible plan, along with effective steps you can take, to truly Fix Congress, once and for all!

Top political insider Douglas E. Schoen dissects the failures of modern politics and unveils the practical-minded, citizen-powered solutions that will revive American democracy One of America's foremost political pollsters, Douglas E. Schoen, shows how the electoral system can be mended so that it once again serves and inspires the American people—no matter their party. In The Political Fix, Schoen lays out provocative yet highly achievable solutions—from completely unmoderated debates to a rotating primary schedule—that will compel politicians to be responsive to citizens rather than to special interests. To ensure justice for all, he calls for removing the attorney general from the cabinet and creating joint chiefs of staff for the Justice Department. He points to innovations on the state and local level—from Alaska, where the state checkbook is posted on the Web, to New York City, where residents can call a single toll-free number to access government services. And he argues that the obsession with capping the influence of large donors has strangled genuine reform—and the answer is to get more money into politics, through a tax credit for small donors. Schoen provides a rallying cry and an action plan for the thousands of Americans hungry for long-lasting political change.

This all-encompassing encyclopedia provides a broad perspective on U.S. politics, culture, and society, but also goes beyond the facts to consider the myths, ideals, and values that help shape and define the nation. Demonstrating that political culture is equally rooted in public events, internal debates, and historical experiences, this unique, three-volume encyclopedia examines an exceptionally broad range of factors shaping modern American politics, including popular belief, political action, and the institutions of power and authority. Readers will see how political culture is shaped by the attitudes, opinions, and behaviors of Americans, and how it affects those things in return. The set also addresses the issue of American "exceptionalism" and examines the nation's place in the world, both historically and in the 21st century. Essays cover pressing matters like congressional gridlock, energy policy, abortion politics, campaign finance, Supreme Court rulings, immigration, crime and punishment, and globalization. Social and cultural issues such as religion, war, inequality, and privacy rights are discussed as well. Perhaps most intriguingly, the encyclopedia surveys the fierce ongoing debate between different political camps over the nation's historical development, its present identity, and its future course. By exploring both fact and mythology, the work will enable students to form a broad yet nuanced understanding of the full range of forces and issues affecting—and affected by—the political process.

'Understanding what is happening in our country is critical if we want to fix it and Robert Reich is an exceptional teacher.' - Senator Bernie Sanders Millions of Americans have lost confidence in their political and economic system. After years of stagnant wages, volatile job markets, and an unwillingness by those in power to deal with profound threats such as climate change, there is a mounting sense that the system is fixed, serving only those select few with enough money to secure a controlling stake. In The System Robert B. Reich shows how wealth and power have interacted to install an elite oligarchy, eviscerate the middle class, and undermine democracy. Addressing himself Jamie Dimon, the powerful banker and chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Reich exposes how those at the top, be they Democrats or Republicans, propagate myths about meritocracy, national competitiveness, corporate social responsibility, and the 'free market' to distract most Americans from their own accumulation of extraordinary wealth, and their power over the system. Instead of answering the call to civic duty, they have chosen to uphold self-serving policies that line their own pockets and benefit their bottom line. Reich's objective is not to foster cynicism, but rather to demystify the system so that American voters might instill fundamental change and demand that democracy works for the majority once again.