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Frances Moore Lappe
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Democracy's Edge: Choosing to Save Our Country by Bringing Democracy to Life Paperback – November 7, 2005

by Frances Moore Lappe (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 12 ratings
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Three out of five Americans, both Republicans and Democrats, feel our country is headed in the wrong direction. America is at the edge, a critical place at which we can either renew and revitalize or give in and lose that most precious American ideal--democracy--and along with it the freedom, fairness, and opportunities it assures. Democracy's Edge is a rousing battle cry that we can--and must--act now. From Jefferson to Eisenhower, presidents from both parties have warned us of the danger of letting a closed, narrow group of business and government officials concentrate power over our lives. Yet today, a small and unrepresentative group of people is making vital decisions for all of us.

But this crisis is only a symptom, Lappé argues. It's a symptom of thin democracy, something done to us or for us, not by or with us. Such democracy is always at risk of being stolen by private interests or extremist groups, left and right. But there is a solution. The answer, says Lappé, is Living Democracy, a powerful yet often invisible citizens' revolution surging in communities across America. It's not random, disjointed activism but the emergence of a new historical stage of democracy in which Americans realize that democracy isn't something we have but something we do. Either we live it or lose it, says Lappé.
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  1. Print length
    492 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Jossey-Bass
  4. Publication date
    November 7, 2005
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.99 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1118437063
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1118437063
  8. See all details
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Top reviews from the United States

  • littlefeet
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good examples
    Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    There are other books that better cover theory and argument of WHY a more democratic economy and society would be a better economy and society, but this book offers some fine examples of how people are building participation and democracy at the grassroots level.
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  • Dunc 2007
    5.0 out of 5 stars Real Democracy is possible here
    Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2006
    Verified Purchase
    Lappe plots the needs of the future. She points out what is needed for this country to become a real democracy. There are lots of resources for those determined to act.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Susan Feathers
    5.0 out of 5 stars Get this book NOW!
    Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2006
    Frances Moore Lappé has done it again. After publishing Diet for a Small Planet (1971) I thought Lappé's search for the root causes of hunger were complete. In that watershed publication, she illuminated the true social and economic costs of corporate farming, carefully outlining how advertising and lobbying in Congress can work together to create a system that does not promote human or ecosystem health and well being for people here or abroad.

    Now, in Democracy's Edge, Lappé shares another deeply insightful analysis of how we are in danger of losing our democratic way of life by the steady erosion of individual rights, biased media information, and attenuation of our voices in government. While she sees us at a critical juncture at which we might lose our democratic way of life, Lappé has done her homework again and personally interviewed people and organizations that are engaged in "living democracy" - a process, a verb, not a noun.

    She debunks the idea that we are a divided nation and shares information poles that show most Americans, whether Republican or Democrat, are concerned about the same things: the economy, the environment, healthcare, and the right to balanced and complete information.

    Lappé gives us a new lexicon of definitions for words like democracy, conservative, and liberal - and a fresh perspective about power. Throughout the book, Frances Moore Lappé illustrates how corporations have grown into the very fabric of our lives, and how they have defined for us who we are, what we like or don't like, and then why we can't change it.

    Advertising and corporate-government alliances work against democratic process, yet we continue to support them through our 401K's, our shopping habits, and political choices!

    Lappé is convinced we can deepen democratic process to one of a living democracy by paying attention, listening, and acting whenever we see anti-democratic forces shaping our lives and economy.

    If we wish to have a truly democratic country, then we have to participate. She interviews people and groups who have shed their victim stance and realized that power is about relationships. Their understanding allows them to shift the power relationship with employers or political forces to gain leverage and a voice.

    Seven states in the U.S. for example have a Working Families Party. Their states have voted in new democratic procedures that allow them to cross-endorse a candidate on more than one party ballot line (fusion voting - common in America before the nineteenth century). This allows their interests to be visible and begins to influence candidates to consider their votes as important to successful election.

    Another innovation common in European democracies and many U.S. city elections is instant run-off voting that eliminates "throwing away" a vote by allowing voters to list their top three candidates in order of preference. If no one wins a majority, the bottom candidate is dropped and second preferences are counted until someone wins.

    These breakaway forces are shaping Democrat and Republican platforms by revealing voter support on an issue. They give a voice to unheard Americans. Why do we think things will never change when here are examples of people doing it right now!

    I highly recommend this book as a fresh and important new way for us to understand how we can become constructively engaged in creating a sustainable, compassionate society - a Good Neighbor nation.
    12 people found this helpful
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  • Richard W. Gillett
    4.0 out of 5 stars Activists for democracy: here's your guide to involvement!
    Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2006
    Frances Moore Lappe has written a book that is easy to read, its pages filled with brief and concise facts and comparisons, and above all correct in its analysis of the state of American democracy. She doesn't leave the reader to guess about whether a new people's democracy is possible; she shows it coming into being in highly diverse settings. And if anyone has thought otherwise, she disabuses us of any idea that in the U.S. of A. we currently have democracy. It would be difficult to read this book all the way through and not find oneself eager to get involved.

    Richard W. Gillett, author of The New Globalization: Reclaiming the Lost Ground of our Christian Social Tradition (Pilgrim Press, 2005).
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Mark Schultz
    5.0 out of 5 stars Stepping up to the plate
    Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2005
    Democracy's Edge is about real people, and about making democracy real. From America's rural heartland to our largest cities, Frances Moore Lappe chronicles the actions of ordinary people whom she has met and interviewed, who are taking action to improve things in their communities. Democracy's Edge is a combination of practical information on issues, telling the story of various communities, and a hopeful yet pragmatic visioning. It reminds me of another great American writer and commentator, Studs Terkel. It is an important work for anyone interested in building a democracy -- a society in which people hold the power to govern.
    20 people found this helpful
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  • Hilary G. Worthen
    5.0 out of 5 stars RX for feeling like giving up on your hopes for our country and the world
    Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2005
    This is an astonishing assembly of evidence that the news of democracy's demise has been greatly exaggerated. If you want to get excited about what your fellow citizens are doing out of the limelight of the mainstream "news" media, this book will hit the spot. Although Lappe has herself been a significant figure in grassroots progressive work for decades, and her experience clearly informs the conceptual framework she uses, this book is really about the work of an amazing array of others, and what can happen when we work together. It made me feel like cheering out loud.
    19 people found this helpful
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  • Mel
    5.0 out of 5 stars We Need to be Reminded
    Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2006
    Democracy's Edge is a collection of stories of ordinary people actively practicing what the author really correctly dubs Living Democracy. When I read this, the book reminded me straight on how fragile freedoms and protections are, how easily they can be dissolved or subverted by corporate, personal, and political greed...ambitions which truly stop for no man (or woman)in the quest for taking more, more, more. So if you're worried about the pollution, land grabbing, political manipulations of law, etc and want inspiration and some guidance on whether and how you can make a difference with just one voice, read this book. It's SO EASY to read, and lacks the fractious tone that many champions of our freedoms (read liberal or left-leaning)can take, and sometimes push people away with.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Mary Ann Carr
    5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring and Informative
    Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2005
    Frances Moore Lappe beautifully transcends partisan politics in this third book of a trilogy about making a difference in one's life and the lives of others (Hope's Edge, You Have the Power: Choosing Courage in a Culture of Fear being the first two; I highly recommend reading them in that order). It was exciting for me to read about people who have successfully moved beyond apathy and into action to better the world. Bravo!
    18 people found this helpful
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