Civic Science

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City comes the fascinating story of America’s national day of thanks and of the tenacious and inspiring Sarah Josepha Hale, a 19th-century woman who made establishing this holiday her life’s mission - one brought to fruition by the wise support of Abraham Lincoln.

The buying and selling of citizenship has become a legitimate, thriving business in just a few years. Entrepreneurs are renouncing America and Europe in favor of tax havens in the Caribbean with the help of a cottage industry of lawyers, bankers, and consultants that specialize in expatriation. But as journalist Atossa Araxia Abrahamian discovered, the story of 21st century citizenship is bigger than millionaires buying their second or third passport.

It is not our institutions that are broken - it is our politics. We have a Republic our founding fathers never intended, where unlimited campaign contributions and congressional seniority keep Americans from having a real say in our government. Disunity and hyperpartisanship keep this system in place. It is time to change all that. When our elected leaders fail us, when corporations call the shots and make the laws, who is left to make it right? No one but all of us.

This book will take you through my incredible four-year quest for justice for The Groveland Four and teach you how to pursue your own causes, whatever they may be. It is a primer for positive action, a journey through Florida's past as well as its future. Some of the things you will learn: everything takes more time than you think, nothing ever goes according to plan, help can come from unexpected places, time is on your side, everyone is connected to everyone else, you can reach your tipping point for success and not even realize it, and your goals can change along the way.

When those we elect descend into criminal malfeasance and emulation of foreign autocracies and oligarchies, Cedric Alexander says it is the unelected apolitical "fourth branch" of government - our nation's public servants, civil servants, and first responders - who must save the nation. Alexander, a former deputy mayor, police chief, and CNN commentator, argues that these people do not constitute a nefarious "deep state" pursuing a hidden agenda. They keep the country running and its people safe....

Saving Free Speech…from Itself sets the tone for the fractious discussion of how the First Amendment should be interpreted in today’s society and how the free speech aspect of it should not be weaponized by individuals and groups whose agenda includes causing harm to innocent people. In an era of political correctness, race-baiting, terrorist incitement, the "Danish" cartoons, the shouting down of speakers, and, of course, "fake news", liberals and conservatives are up in arms both about speech and its excesses, and what the First Amendment means. Speech has been weaponized.

Anything that alienates and divides us leaves us weak and exposed to disaster. Simple human compassion is more essential to our national resilience and strength than most of us recognize. Shallow values won’t suffice as the foundation of our social and cultural infrastructure. With anecdotes and unexpected stories about growing up during the '60s and '70s in Los Angeles and from her work in disaster recovery, Diane Burden Cox illustrates the importance of our relationships with each other to our national resilience.

After the 2016 election, Republicans had their largest majority in the states since 1928, controlling legislative chambers in 32 states and governor offices in 33. They also held both chambers of Congress and the presidency despite losing the popular vote. What happened? Meaghan Winter shows how the Democratic Party and left-leaning political establishment have spent the past several decades betting it all on the very risky and increasingly foolhardy strategy of abandoning the states to focus on federal races.

A veteran activist's guide to direct action and strategic civil disobedience as the most radical and rapid means to social change. For decades, Lisa Fithian’s work as an advocate for civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action has put her on the frontlines of change. For anyone who wants to become more active in resistance or is just feeling overwhelmed or hopeless, Shut It Down offers strategies and actions you can take right now to promote justice and incite change in your own community.

In this rousing call to leadership, the self-described millennial spokesperson for the culture, CNN’s designated "woke AF" former commentator, and the youngest national press secretary in the history of the United States shares her take-no-prisoners approach to life, politics, and career success, and shows a new generation how to be loud and powerful in their own right.

Helping the Good Do Better pulls back the curtain on the corridors of power in Washington to reveal how social change really happens. This book offers lessons from the trenches on how some of this generation's most defining social issues - AIDS, disabilities, global poverty, cancer, human trafficking, national service, early childhood education, and social entrepreneurship - engendered landmark federal policies. Each chapter tells the story of how a particular issue was shaped by the movements and legislation at the center of public debate.

Shortly after Trump’s election, two outraged former congressional staffers wrote and posted a tactical guide to resisting the Trump agenda. It went viral, sparking the creation of thousands of local Indivisible groups in red, blue, and purple states, mobilizing millions of people and evolving into a defining movement of the Trump Era. Now the co-executive directors of Indivisible offer a behind-the-scenes look at how change comes to Washington, whether Washington wants it or not. And they explain how we’ll win the coming fight for the future of American democracy.

Duca investigates and explains the issues at the root of our ailing political system and reimagines what an equitable democracy would look like. It begins with young people getting involved. This includes people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever to be elected to Congress; David and Lauren Hogg, two survivors of the Parkland, Florida shooting who went on to become advocates for gun control; Amanda Litman, who founded the nonprofit organization Run for Something, to assist progressive young people in down ballot elections; and many more.

With eye-opening research and inspiring interviews, The Revolution Generation is the first in-depth exploration of the world-changing activism and potential of people born between 1980 and 2000. Labeled Generation Y or Millennials, theirs is the first digitally fluent generation. From sex and dating, to parental relationships, to jobs and the economy, Millennials live within a dynamic interplay of technological advances and real world setbacks.

As Elections and Surveys director for CBS News, it’s Anthony Salvanto’s job to understand you - what you think and how you vote. He’s the person behind so many of the poll numbers you see today, making the winner calls on election nights and surveying thousands of Americans. In Where Did You Get This Number?, Salvanto takes listeners on a fast-paced, eye-opening tour through the world of polling and elections and what they really show about America today.

Rebel Song is a tremendous story of a woman, a heart, a madman, a rebel, and the growing storm of change. Eerie warnings parallel contemporary crises. Weaving metaphors soar and dive. Archetypes evoke stunning moments of real-life recognition. And in the end, the sweeping triumph of the rebel song's message leaves you in shivers-and-chills delight.

A groundbreaking, definitive work on how to build women's power. Keep Marching is a practical guide and highly researched examination of the barriers that hold women back and how to overcome them. Author Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner - the executive director of MomsRising, and a keynote speaker at the 2017 Women's March in Washington, D.C. - presents compelling data, timeless action plans, thought-provoking stories, a proactive agenda for change, and inspiration for how women can create change in their everyday lives and in the country as a whole.

On February 14, 2018, 17-year-old David Hogg and his 14-year-old sister, Lauren, went to school at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, like any normal Wednesday. That day, of course, the world changed. By the next morning, with 17 classmates and faculty dead, they had joined the leadership of a movement to save their own lives and the lives of all other young people in America. It's a leadership position they did not seek and did not want - but events gave them no choice.

Virtual Country examines the current nexus of technology and western democracy, pointing to a historical opportunity for We the People to evolve our democracy to include a new public institution that enables a coherent, collective voice on the issues that affect us all. The book's centerpiece is a proposal for a new online institution for citizen reengagement - the National Town Square. The Square would be a transparent, citizen-led, noncorporate, nongovernmental, nonpartisan online venue for individual advisory voting, moderated discussion, and more.

In The Bill of Rights: A User's Guide, award-winning author and constitutional scholar Linda R. Monk explores the remarkable history of the Bill of Rights amendment by amendment, the Supreme Court's interpretation of each right, and the power of citizens to enforce those rights. Stories of the ordinary people who made the Bill of Rights come alive are featured throughout.