Political Resources
Multi-issue
Activism/Advocacy
Braver Angels (2019 platform. click here).
See “Citizen University Sermons”.
Podcasts
“I’m Sharon McMahon, a former high school government and law teacher on a mission to combat political misinformation. You may know me from my viral Instagram account @SharonSaysSo, and I’m dedicated to sharing non-partisan facts about the US government and democracy.”
Articles/Op-Eds/Essays
Exploring Young Women’s Leftward Expansion, Lydia Saad, Sarah Elizabeth Jones, Sarah Fioroni.
Women aged 18 to 29 today are more liberal than young women in the past on specific issues, particularly the environment and abortion.
Tim Walz on Respect. Excerpt from "Is Tim Walz the Midwestern Dad Democrats Need?" on The Ezra Klein Show.
I’ve watched a lot of presidential campaigns, and I can’t remember one in which the contest for the Democratic vice-presidential nomination has played out quite so publicly. And that’s allowed for some voices and figures to break through who you might not have imagined before. Foremost among them is Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, because of one interview on “Morning Joe,” saying of Donald Trump and JD Vance, “These guys are just weird.”
That was the interview heard around the Democratic Party. I remember it hit me on social media. I saw that and thought, “Oh, that really connects.” And then all of a sudden, it was all you heard from Democrats. “Weird, weird, weird. These guys are weird.”
Why did this connect this way? And is there a risk of this falling into something that can bedevil Democrats, coming off as an insult to Trump’s supporters, like Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” comment in 2016?
Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) Toolkit, Office of Energy Justice and Equity.
CBAs are strategic vehicles for community improvement, while benefiting private sector developers and both state and local governments. They are not zero-sum instruments. They are legal agreements between community benefit groups and developers, stipulating the benefits a developer agrees to fund or furnish, in exchange for community support of a project. Benefits can include commitments to hire directly from a community, contributions to economic trust funds, local workforce training guarantees and more. The Toolkit is aimed at private sector development and is not intended to address federal projects.
Catholic Post-liberalism and the Left-Right Spectrum, Wade Lee Hudson.
In his review of several books written by Catholic “post-liberals,” Mark Lilla expresses sympathy for their “rejection of the intellectual foundations of modern liberal individualism” and its “idealization of autonomy,” which “has worked as an acid eating away at the deepest cultural foundations inherited from the Christian era” (such as “love your neighbor”).
The Human Crisis, Albert Camus (1946).
Having lived through WW1, the Great Depression, the rise of Hitler, and WW2, Camus nonetheless delivers an optimistic outlook for the future of humankind. He suggests multiple priorities to help mankind move beyond the crises that had engulfed us:
Simply reject in thought and action any acquiescent or fatalistic way of thinking.
Unburden the world of the terror that reigns today and prevents clear thought.
Whenever possible put politics in its true place - a secondary one.
Seek out and create, on the very foundation of our negativity, positive values that will reconcile negative thought with the potential for positive action.
Fully understand that this attitude means creating a universalism in which all people of good will can come together.
These priorities are useful for today as well.
Ezra Klein Interview with Barack Obama.
EK: Something I noticed again and again in the book is this very particular approach to persuasion that you have…. BO: Now, that’s interesting. I forget whether it was Clarence Darrow, or Abraham Lincoln, or some apocryphal figure in the past who said the best way to win an argument is to first be able to make the other person’s argument better than they can. For me, what that meant was that I had to understand their worldview.
How Democrats Became Liberals and Republicans Became Conservatives, Ezra Klein.
Chapter One from Why We’re Polarized.
The Book That Shaped Foreign Policy for a Generation Has More to Say, Barry Gewen.
This commentary on Politics Among Nations, the landmark 1948 book by Hans J. Morgenthau, falls short, but it’s a good summary of the view that “the job of the statesman [is] to preserve his country’s security” rather than promote “abstract, universal values.”
Thomas B. Edsall, Columnist: American politics, inequality, campaign strategy and demographics. ????
When Does Activism Become Powerful?, Hahrie Han.
“Holistic Democracy” and Citizen Motivation To Use a More Holistic Approach to Public Decision Making, Jan Inglis.
Why Progressive Candidates Should Invoke Conservative Values, Robb Willer and Jan Voelkel.
”A Multi-axial Analysis of the Left-Right Opposition,” Peter Caws.
In Left and Right: The Great Dichotomy Revisited, edited by João Cardoso Rosas, Ana Rita Ferreira, pp. 38-46.
“We the People” — Meeting Polarization and Other Challenges, Harry C. Boyte.
You Might be Getting Your Politics from Your Group, Tom Jacobs.
Henry Adams’s 1880 Novel, ‘Democracy,’ Resonates Now More Than Ever, Jon Meacham.
The 99 Percent for the 100 Percent: The Case for Deep Patriotism, Van Jones.
Preaching Faith in Democracy, Courtney E. Martin.
In Defense of Liberalism, by David Frum.
A review of A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism, Adam Gopnik.
Imperial Exceptionalism, Jackson Lears.
The Authentic Appeal of the Lying Demagogue: Proclaiming the Deeper Truth about Political Illegitimacy, Oliver Hahl, Minjae Kim, Ezra W. Zuckerman Sivan.
The High Table Liberal, By Sean Wilentz.
See "Charlottesville, Parkland, and Schlesinger," by Wade Lee Hudson.
The Rise of McPolitics, Yascha Mounk.
How to Participate in Politics, Ian Prasad Philbrick and David Leonhardt.
Trump’s ‘Winning’ Is America’s Losing, Lilliana Mason.
A Stump Speech, Wade Lee Hudson.
Presidents, Revolution, and Organizing, Wade Lee Hudson.
Books
Them: Why We Hate Each Other—And How to Heal, Benn Sasse (2018).
See review.
Become America: Civic Sermons on Love, Responsibility, and Democracy, Eric Liu .
See review.
The Politics of Petulance: America in an Age of Immaturity, Alan Wolfe (2018).
See review.
Enchanted America: How Intuition and Reason Divide our Politics, J. Eric Oliver and Thomas J. Wood (2018).
See review.
Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America, John Sides, Michael Tesler, and Lynn Vavreck (2018).
See review.
On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope, DeRay Mckesson (2018).
See review.
The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It, Yascha Mounk (2018).
See review.
Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World, Anand Giridharadas (2018).
See review.
The Perils of “Privilege,” Why Injustice Can’t Be Solved by Accusing Others of Advantage, Phoebe Maltz Bovy (2017).
See review.
Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States, James C. Scott (2017).
The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker, Katherine J. Cramer (2016).
Breaking Through Power: It’s Easier Than We Think, Ralph Nader (2016).
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, Naomi Klein (2014).
See review.
Waging Peace: Global Adventures of a Lifelong Activist, David Hartsough (2014).
Millennial Momentum: How a New Generation is Remaking America, Morley Winograd and Michael D. Hais (2011).
Power and Love: A Theory and Practice of Social Change, Adam Kahane (2010).
The Impossible Will Take a Little While, A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, Paul Rogat Loeb (2004).
Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism, Cornel West (2004).
Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think, George Lakoff (1996).
The Activist Handbook: A Primer, Randy Shaw (1996).
The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt, Albert Camus (1956).
Public Opinion Data