Recommended Books

This list of books are highly recommended by Democracy Matters staff & students. They range in topics specific to money in politics and voting rights to grassroots organizing, citizenship and democracy.

  • Democracy Vouchers: How Bringing Money into Politics Can Drive The Money Out (by Tom Latkowski)
  • The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It (by Robert Reich)
  • Break ‘Em Up: Recovering out Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money (by Zephyr Teachout)
  • They Don’t Represent Us: Reclaiming Our Democracy (by Lawrence Lessig)
  • America Compromised (by Lawrence Lessig)
  • Change Elections to Change America: Student Organizers in Action ( by Jay R. Mandle and Joan D. Mandle
  • The Great Suppression: Voting Rights, Corporate Cash and the Conservative Assault on Democracy (by Zachary Roth)
  • Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America: Working Together to Revive our Democracy (by Bruce Berlin)
  • DARING DEMOCRACY: Igniting Power, Meaning and Connection for the America We Want by Frances Moore Lappe and Adam Eichen
  • Creating Political Equality: Elections As a Public Good by Jay R. Mandle
  • Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right (by Jane Mayer)
  • Democracy In America: What Has Gone Wrong and What We Can Do About It (by Benjamin Page & Martin Gilens)
  • How Democracies Die (by Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt)
  • The Plot Against America (by Philip Roth)
  • Nation on the Take: How Big Money Corrupts Our Democracy and What We Can Do About It (by Wendell Potter and Nick Penniman)
  • Organizing for Social Change: Midwest Academy Manual for Activists (by Kim Bobo, Jackie Kendall, and Steve Max)
  • The Activist’s Handbook: A Primer (by Randy Shaw)
  • Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and A Vision for Change (by John Lewis)
  • Democracy, America, and the Age of Globalization by Jay R. Mandle
  • The Soul of a Citizen:Living with Conviction in Challenging Times by Paul R Loeb
  • Getting A Grip: Clarity, Creativity, and Courage in a World Gone Mad by Francis Moore Lappe
  • The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear by Paul Rogat Loeb
  • You’re Never Too Old to Raise a Little Hell by Doris Haddock