Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop

The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America

By: Lee Drutman

Narrated by: Christopher Grove

American democracy is at an impasse. After years of zero-sum partisan trench warfare, our political institutions are deteriorating. Our norms are collapsing. Democrats and Republicans no longer merely argue; they cut off contact with each other. In short, the two-party system is breaking our democracy, and driving us all crazy.

Deftly weaving together history, democratic theory, and cutting-edge political science research, Lee Drutman tells the story of how American politics became so toxic, why the country is trapped in a doom loop of escalating two-party warfare, and why it is destroying the shared sense of fairness and legitimacy on which democracy depends. He argues that the only way out is to have more partisanship - more parties, to short-circuit the zero-sum nature of binary partisan conflict.

Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop makes a compelling case for large scale electoral reform - importantly, reform not requiring a constitutional amendment - that would give America more parties, making American democracy more representative, more responsive, and ultimately more stable.

©2020 Lee Drutman (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

A Must- read

Clear explanation of how we got here and how American democracy can be saved.

Must read for anyone in civics

Great read for anyone in civics. Succinctly goes into the who what where when and how of the problem and potential solutions to fixing our system.

if you care about the country you should read this

A great book about potential corrections we can make to our American political. The first part of the book has a great breakdown of our history and foundations. the last part of the book has many important suggestions to rectify the issues and lead us towards a more perfect union. I gave it four stars instead of five because it is a little dry, that said I don't know how you can make this topic not to be dry to some degree.

great and fair book

such an excellent book. this would improve the United States greatly, not just for one party.

Repetitive but highly compelling

The first third is very tedious, repeating the same ideas ad nauseam. It's worth powering through to get the full breadth of the book.