10 Steps To Repair American Democracy [Paperback]

Steven Hill (Author), Hendrik Hertzberg (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A much-needed owner's manual for the citizen-owners of government in the United States." -- Michael Lind, author,

"Anyone concerned about the state of our democratic system should read this book." -- Trevor Potter, former chairman, Federal Elections Commission

"Practical and insightful...an inspiring blueprint for reclaiming America. Read it, roll up your sleeves, and get to work." -- Arianna Huffington, author,

"We are fortunate to have Steven Hill's latest book to help us find our political compass." -- Hendrik Hertzberg, The New Yorker

"We know American democracy is being run over a cliff. What's a citizen to do? Here, finally, is the plan." -- Jim Hightower, author,

About the Author

Steven Hill is the former Director of the Political Reform Program of the New America Foundation and co-founder of the Center for Voting and Democracy. His articles and commentaries have appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times,Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, The Nation, Ms., Salon.com, and American Prospect. His previous book, Fixing Elections: The Failure of America’s Winner Take All Politics, has been called by author Michael Lind “the most important book on American democracy that has come out in many years.” He has lectured widely in the United States and Europe, and has appeared on C-SPAN, Fox News, National Public Radio, and numerous radio and television programs across the nation and in Europe. In 2004, he managed the successful campaign to pass instant runoff voting for Board of Supervisors elections in San Francisco. “More recently, he also helped organize the successful effort to establish public financing for the city’s mayoral campaigns. fairvote.org newamerica.net

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Product Details

• Paperback: 231 pages
• Publisher: Paradigm Publishers (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976062151
• ISBN-13: 978-0976062158
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #338,169 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steven Hill is a writer, columnist and political professional based in the United States with two decades of experience in politics. He is a frequent speaker at academic, government, NGO and business events, speaking on a wide range of topics related to politics, economics, climate change, global complexity, geo-strategy and trends.

Mr. Hill is the author, most recently, of Europe's Promise: Why the European Way Is the Best Hope for an Insecure Age (www.EuropesPromise.org), published in January 2010. His previous books include 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy, Whose Vote Counts (with Rob Richie) and Fixing Elections: The Failure of America's Winner Take All Politics, which has been called "the most important book on American democracy that has come out in many years." Mr. Hill is a prolific writer and commentator who has been widely published and quoted in media around the world. His articles and opeds have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Financial Times, Guardian, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, Christian Science Monitor, The Nation, Washington Monthly, Salon.com, TruthDig, American Prospect, Die Zeit, International Politik (Germany), Prospect (UK), ESharp (Brussels), Le Monde Diplomatique, Hürriyet Daily News (Turkey), Prague Post, Courrier Japon, Taiwan News, Korea Herald, Toronto Star, India Times, Burma Digest, Egypt Daily News, Roll Call, The Hill, Sierra, Ms., San Francisco Chronicle, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, and many other leading publications. He writes a monthly column for Social Europe Journal.

Mr Hill has appeared on international, national and local radio and television programs, including the BBC, NPR, Pacifica, Sirius, Fox News and others, and he has lectured widely in the United States and Europe. He has extensive experience in political consulting and organizing, including strategic planning, policy analysis, government relations, media outreach, project management, community organizing, event production, and fundraising. He is a co-founder of FairVote and former director of the political reform program at the New America Foundation. Mr. Hill, who is a graduate of Yale University and Western Washington University/Fairhaven College, lives in San Francisco, CA.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A brief introduction, October 16, 2006

By 

David Schaich "David Schaich" (Boulder, Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 10 Steps To Repair American Democracy (Paperback)

I heard Steven Hill give a talk about his new book, "10 Steps to Repair American Democracy", in Cambridge recently. In his book and in his talk, Hill promotes reforms such as instant runoff voting, proportional representation, direct election of the President, public campaign financing, free media time for candidates, and so on. His "ten steps" are:
1. Secure the Vote
2. Expand Voter Participation
3. Increase Voter Choice with Instant Runoff Voting
4. Scrap Winner-Take-All Elections
5. Direct Election of the President
6. Overhaul the U.S. Senate
7. Reclaim the Airwaves
8. Minimize Money's Role
9. Reform the Supreme Court
10. Restore Faith in Government

Obviously, each of these slogans really involves multiple steps. For example, "Secure the Vote" includes securing voter-verified recountable paper trails; impartial and professional election officials; and open-source software for electronic voting machines. "Expand Voter Participation" includes universal voter registration; making election day a holiday; and enfranchising prisoners and ex-cons. And so on down the list.

Hill puts the most emphasis on scrapping winner-take-all elections in favor of moderate proportional representation, of the type formerly used in the Illinois state legislature. In moderate proportional representation, three to five legislators are elected from geographical districts three to five times the size of those that currently exist. Since candidates in such districts would need only 17% to 25% of the vote to win a seat, Hill argues that minorities (political and ethnic) would gain representation proportional to their numbers, and polarization between "red" and "blue" areas would be dramatically reduced. At the same time, since these 17%-25% thresholds are much higher than those formerly used in Italy and Israel, moderate proportional representation isn't vulnerable to the sort of instability that troubled systems in which candidates could be elected with as little as 1% of the vote.

Hill's talk was held in a church, and I felt a bit like the choir, since I am familiar with most of these proposals and have supported many of them for years, to the point of writing articles and collecting signatures for instant runoff voting and proportional representation. "10 Steps to Repair American Democracy" is directed primarily toward those unfamiliar with these proposals, and seeing them for the first time.

Though Hill gives decent summaries of many of the issues and options, I personally would have liked more detailed discussions of the arguments for (and against) the various reforms proposed. I also would have appreciated more discussion on ways to work to enact these reforms -- all Hill does is suggest contacting the relevant organizations, which are listed at the end of each chapter. The writing was also tiresome on occasion, as several factoids, phrases, sentences and even a paragraph were repeated verbatim two or three times in less than 200 pages.

So although "10 Steps to Repair American Democracy" wasn't all I was looking for, it can still serve as a brief introduction to reforms whose time has come, especially valuable for people who are fed up with business as usual but don't have any idea what to do about it. I already have a lengthy list of friends and relatives to loan it to.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful sypnosis of America's democratic breakdown, May 26, 2006

By 

Barb (Kansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 10 Steps To Repair American Democracy (Paperback)

This book gave me great hope. With all the alarming politics occurring in the US today, the many ways that democracy is failing and civil liberties are threatened, it becomes difficult to keep track of it all. I sometimes feel like I have to subscribe to ten magazines, four newspapers and watch all the news shows to make any sense out of it. So it was with great relief that I read Steven Hill's new book, which first and foremost is a concise summary of the many ways American democracy is failing. But to my delight he also offers concrete solutions, with a summary of those solutions at the end of each "step"/chapter, as well as organizations to contact who are working on that specific solution. I finished reading his book feeling not only clearer on the problems, but the solutions as well. Tremendously empowering. If you are concerned about the state of democracy, pick up this wonderfully short and concise tonic for the times.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book really lays it out clearly and simply, May 26, 2006

By 

G Man (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 10 Steps To Repair American Democracy (Paperback)

I have become cynical about American democracy, but this book opened my eyes more than most books. The author has a knack for explaining things simply and clearly, which I find helpful because to me American democracy has become such a puzzle. Washington, DC is like a Hall of Mirrors, very hard to figure out. After reading this book, I understand better why that is, it put into place a lot of disparate observations I have and helped me to see the bigger picture, see how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. And I'm so glad that he provided solutions, I get so tired of books that tell us what's wrong but never tell us how to fix the problems. For me, "10 Steps to Repair American Democracy" was a quick and easy read, and greatly illuminating.