Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality

by Danielle Allen

Freedom and equality are not adversarial opposites, they’re mutually dependent. Allen’s dissection of The Declaration of Independence shows it to be not only about individual liberty, but also about the essential role of political equality and collective self-government in securing that liberty. Full of historical context and linguistic analysis, Allen’s nuanced approach sheds light on the true intentions of the founders, including the contradiction of their views on slavery and their conception of the role of God. Allen clarifies how equality within a democracy is vital in protecting against the constant threat of domination.

You’re More Powerful Than You Think: A Citizen’s Guide to Making Change Happen

by Eric Liu

A dive into the practical side of creating power within a democracy, especially for those who seem powerless. In reality, power is infinite and is not zero-sum. Liu explains how we all have the ability to create change when we’re activated with the right strategies and organization. While Liu focuses on taking political action rather than understanding democratic ideas, he insists that citizen power needs a moral foundation focused on inclusion. Power in a democracy must be both claimed and circulated. He also acknowledges that ideas are a form of power and that changing the narrative can change political possibilities, which is what Bean Thinking is all about.

Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point

by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt

America’s founders believed in elite rule and it’s coming back to bite us. Levitsky and Ziblatt illustrate how several anti-majoritarian institutions in the U.S., many born of old compromises and prejudices, are allowing a minority of citizens to govern over the will of the majority. They chronicle the current Republican party strategy of shrinking the electorate (turning against democracy and racial equity), and how that strategy could have been different. And they illustrate how America now lags behind other developed democracies that have moved towards further inclusion and more representative government. They elaborate on several policies that could be enacted to further democratize America and allow majorities to govern, while still protecting minority rights.

Democracy and Truth: A Short History

by Sophia Rosenfeld

Rosenfeld shows how a “post-truth” era is a misnomer because truth has always been socially contested. The “truth” is a collective cultural bias and knowledge is inherently political. This is not to say that everything is relative. While there is an external reality, this reality is conveyed through a particular interpretation: frameworks, categories, language, and analysis. Rosenfeld explains that what we consider as “truth” always has implications in justifying and distributing power. Thus “truth” is always political, and conflict within democracies is largely about who has epistemic authority. The current crisis of trust in expertise and science is a continuation of that contestation, and Rosenfeld shows us how we got here.

Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?

by Martin Luther King, Jr.

This book was written in 1967, but it could have been written last week. Dr. King pinpoints that pushing for true democracy is a key element in pursuing racial equality, and prophetically suggests that any party that opposes racial justice and inclusion would eventually have to turn against democracy. King also advocates for social democracy - a middle way between unrestrained capitalism and unrestrained communism, and suggests a universal basic income. He emphasizes that without an effort to come together in mutual support within a democratic society, society will devolve into mutually destructive chaos. Thus, our self-interest lies not just with our own wellbeing, but with the wellbeing of our entire community. The man was truly ahead of his time.

We’ve all heard of Dr. King and know of his speeches, but fewer of us have really read him. From reading this book, with all of its scholarly references, deep social analysis, and historical context, it’s clear that King was just as much of a philosopher as he was a preacher. If you only read one of his books, let it be this one.

How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them

by Jason Stanley

This one is the warning! 🚨 Honestly, when I read this for the first time I was absolutely shook. Stanley’s description of key elements of fascist politics will sound familiar in this political climate: glorification of a mythic past, anti-intellectualism, pervasive lies that create a sense of unreality, the desire to restrict gender roles and sexuality, and others. Fascism isn’t simply a dictatorship. As Stanley defines it, fascism is ultranationalism where one group (ethnicity, religion, or culture) is elevated as supreme and represented by an authoritarian leader who purports to speak on its behalf. It’s a regime where one class of people has dominance over others, where the rights of minorities matter less, where the dominant group is morally “right” and all others are “wrong”. In other words, it’s anti-democracy.

If democracy is our ideal, seeing an illustration of the anti-ideal makes the stakes of this moment clear. Fascism is not an overblown exaggeration that could never happen here - it’s a serious threat with a real possibility of becoming a reality.