Civic Literacy At The Milton Public Library: Adult Reading List

Achen and Bartels argue that democratic theory needs to be founded on identity groups and political parties, not on the preferences of individual voters. Democracy for Realists provides a powerful challenge to conventional thinking, pointing the way toward a fundamentally different understanding of the realities and potential of democratic government.

A journalistic examination of the ongoing fight for voting equality shares insights into why so few Americans vote, citing the role of corporations in encouraging voter turnout while outlining innovative approaches to voter education and motivation.

a timely history of voter suppression that exposes America's insidious history of policies that have blocked African-American voting participation, placing particular focus on the Supreme Court's 2013 Shelby ruling.

In The Court v. The Voters, law professor Joshua Douglas takes us behind the scenes of significant cases in voting rights—some surprising and unknown, some familiar—to investigate the historic crossroads that have irrevocably changed our elections and the nation. Douglas sheds light on the intractable election problems we face as a result, and highlights the unique role the highest court has played in producing a broken electoral system. While we can—and should—lament the democracy that might have been, Douglas argues that we can—and should—double down in our efforts to protect the right to vote.

Citing the major elections that have been won by candidates who lost the popular vote, a New York Times editorial board member outlines urgent arguments for eliminating the Electoral College and making individual citizen votes count.

Many of the political issues we struggle with today have their roots in the US Constitution. Husband-and-wife team Cynthia and Sanford Levinson take readers back to the creation of this historic document and discuss how contemporary problems were first introduced--then they offer possible solutions.

A congressional historian takes readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of Capitol Hill--pointing out key players, explaining their behavior and translating parliamentary language into plain English, in a book that also explores committee work, the role of staffers and lobbyists, floor proceedings and much more.

An insightful, urgent, and perennially relevant handbook that lays out in common sense language how the United States Constitution works, and how its protections are eroding before our eyes—essential reading for anyone who wants to understand and parse the constantly breaking news about the backbone of American government.

Provides accessible discussion of the Constitution and places its clauses into historical context, including discussion of the intentions of the Founders, interpretations during different periods, and the anti-Federalist position.

A cautionary assessment of the demise of history's liberal democracies identifies such factors as the steady weakening of critical institutions, from the judiciary to the press, while sharing optimistic recommendations for how America's democratic system can be saved.

Idiot's Guides: The U.S. Constitution, Second Edition, provides you a clear look at the one single document that defines America. Suitable supplemental reading for students in high school civics classes and college political science classes, this guide covers the birth of the Constitution and the history and details of its amendments.

Shows how changes in work, family structure, women's roles, and other factors have caused people to become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and democratic structures--and how they may reconnect.

A guide to the most relevant issues in contemporary American politics provides nonpartisan coverage of a range of topics from the war in Iraq and climate change to the economy and renewable energy sources.

A veteran political consultant uses 30 years of research and campaign experience to address how and why Republicans and Democrats have failed to appeal to the Latino vote--the second largest ethnic voting group in the country--and the impact it will have on American democracy and politics for decades to come.

In a groundbreaking, unforgettable expose, a leading feminist activist examines how a gender gap in data perpetuates bias and disadvantages women by diving into women’s lives at home, the workplace, the public square, the doctor’s office and more.

The journalist and immigration-rights activist presents a memoir relating how he was sent from the Philippines to the U.S. as a child, his discovery of his undocumented status as a teenager, and his decision to reveal his immigration status publicly in 2011.

Climate Courage shows Americans that we can find common ground on solutions to climate change across the political divide through our shared American values. It shows us how we can move past our collective inaction on climate change and work together in our communities to create a more sustainable, just, clean energy-powered economy that works for everyone.

Richard Rothstein has painstakingly documented how American cities, from San Francisco to Boston, became so racially divided. Rothstein describes how federal, state, and local governments systematically imposed residential segregation: with undisguised racial zoning, public housing that purposefully segregated previously mixed communities, subsidies for builders to create whites-only suburbs, tax exemptions for institutions that enforced segregation, and support for violent resistance to African Americans in white neighborhoods. He demonstrates that such policies still influence tragedies in places like Ferguson and Baltimore.

With unparalleled access to the tight inner circle of advisers who have surrounded Biden for decades, Franklin Foer dramatizes in forensic detail the first two years of the Biden presidency, concluding with the historic midterm elections. The result is a gripping and high-definition portrait of a major president at a time when democracy itself seems imperiled. With his back to the wall, Biden resorted to old-fashioned politics: deal-making and compromise.

Draws on interviews with firsthand sources, meeting notes, personal diaries, and other documents to depict life in the Trump White House, focusing on Trump's decision-making process for foreign and domestic policies.

While the American story has not always been heroic, we have been sustained by a belief in progress even in the gloomiest of times. In this inspiring book, Meacham reassures us, “The good news is that we have come through such darkness before”—as, time and again, Lincoln’s better angels have found a way to prevail.