Republic on Trial The Case for Representative Democracy

Despite all the arguing between politicians, special interests, and political parties, Americans basically agree on the most important political issues, right? Legislators need to stop bickering over policy details and just listen to what ordinary Americans want. Is this a sentiment shared by your students? With this brief and engaging text, you can combat this misleading notion and show students that Americans not only disagree on the most significant challenges facing the country, but also conflict on what to do about them. On issue after issue--crime, Social Security, homosexual rights, military intervention, abortion--the American public is deeply divided over the proper course of action. More importantly though, this book helps to combat the cynicism that accompanies any discussion of how partisan our system has become. The authors effectively explain how our system is not flawed by division; in fact, democracy is necessarily complex and contentious, just as the Founders envisioned. By showing students,what democracy entails in practice--the in's and out's of legislators actually doing their jobs--they will come to see that uncertainty, competing interests, confusion, bargaining, compromise, and conflict are central to the proper functioning of our democracy.Rosenthal, Alan is the author of 'Republic on Trial The Case for Representative Democracy' with ISBN 9781568026527 and ISBN 1568026528.